Radio
by kitoriwitch613
Summary: THIS STORY IS UP FOR ADOPTION. Through it all, they come to learn that life is not what they had hoped. That love is not always good feelings and happiness. And life is not a fairytale. But it's more than they expected. TrunksPan, MarronGoten
1. Tell Me What's on Your Mind

**Tell me What's on Your Mind**

Trunks couldn't help but wait with anticipation as he sat on the couch with his foot bouncing. His father slapped his knee and told him to stop. Trunks then started chewing on his nails. This was the day that Pan would be coming back home from college. He had counted down the days for this, to see his friend come back. 

And his secret love.

He had planned to tell her in person about his feelings. He knew she liked him, so it should work out. Only he knew of his plan, though. It wasn't known to the others, and that's why Trunks was so nervous.

Marron sighed beside him, causing a strand of blond hair to fly away from her face.

"You okay?" Trunks asked her.

"Yeah," she said in a bored voice, "My foot's asleep."

Bra was beside her with her palm against her cheek with her arm resting against the arm rest. She looked like she was about to fall asleep. Everyone looked bored since it was early morning, everyone except Trunks, Gohan, and Videl. Sadly, one Son was not there. In Pan's third year at college, Chi-Chi passed away. Pan attended the funeral but had to head back to college the day after. That was the last time he saw her and he was shocked to see her so grown up.

"You got mail," sang Videl's laptop. The woman walked over to it and ran her fingers over it.

"Can we go ahead and eat the food?" Goten asked, stretching.

"No," Gohan snapped at him, looking much like the late Chi-Chi, "We eat when Pan gets here."

"Let him go ahead and eat," Videl said.

Gohan looked back at his wife, "What do you mean?"

Videl sighed and closed the laptop. "Pan can't get here because the airports in Madrid are closed."

Everyone 'oh'ed with sadness. Trunks looked down at his feet. That's okay. She'll be there in a few days, maybe even tomorrow. He just had to wait until later.

He didn't know that later would be much, much later.

Two Years Later

Trunks poured himself a cup of coffee and drank it black. He had just got out of a long, boring board meeting. He sighed and went to his office and sat back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. His sinuses were acting up and he had a major sinus headache.

"Hey Mr. Briefs," came a familiar, yet annoying voice. It was that of his ass-kissing assistant.

"Yes Mitch?" Trunks asked in a tone that said he was not a happy president at the moment.

"You okay, sir? You sound a little groggy. Do you want me to get you some coffee?" asked Mitch.

Trunks looked over to his cup that he had just made. "I'm fine, Mitch."

Mitch nodded, "Okay, sir. Can I get you anything?"

"No."

"How did the board meeting go?"

"Fine."

"Mr. Tojihu's voice is so high pitched, isn't it"

"Yes."

"I can get you some Tylenol if you want?"

"I'm fine." Trunks sighed and wiggled a finger in his ear, "Do I have any messages?"

Mitch jumped, "Oh yes, sorry I forgot, you know with the board meeting and everything. Sometimes I totally forget things 'cause it gets so busy here, but imagine how you feel. Being president must be really hard. I don't think I could ever-"

"Mitch," Trunks said agitated, "The messages."

Mitch jumped again, "Oh yes, you got one from your sister saying that her car was in the shop and she was going to use one of your extra ones. Then you got one from Mr. Son asking if you wanted to watch the game with him today?"

Trunks stood up, "I'm leaving now. Clean up the office."

"Right away, Mr. Briefs!" Trunks rolled his eyes when the brown noser turned away.

Everyone waved goodbye as he left. He paid no mind to them and he was sure that they whispered harsh words about their boss, but could he blame them? He was in an irritated mood.

He climbed into his car and headed down the road, having the AC on full blast. It was in the middle of August and the sun burnt down on their necks. This was perfect weather for shorts and tank tops, for playing out in sprinklers and tanning by the pool. But Trunks only wanted to get home, have a drink, and chill. His mind was reeling with today's events and his temples throbbed.

Finally when he got to his manor he pulled into the garage. He stayed in the comfort of his Viper and let the air cool him before he cut it off and walked inside. His house looked like he didn't live in it. There were hardly any decorations but hard wood floors, blank walls, a couch, and a television. He had four other bedrooms, but they were empty except for one king sized bed in each.

Trunks looked around with disgust. _Just like a rich guy_, he thought, _buy big houses only because you can._

He moved over to the kitchen and took down a bottle of scotch and Coke. He mixed the two together in a glass and walked to the living room and turned on the big screen. He never watched television that much, but he settled for Animal Planet. He wasn't sure what program it was, but he later found out for it to be the 'Planet's Most Extreme'.

He kicked off his shoes and peeled off his socks as he sprawled out on the couch. During commercial, he noticed something weird with his feet. His feet looked funny. He had no toes! No wait, there they were; he had them scrunched.

Trunks sighed again and rubbed his eyebrows. "I need a vacation." You know you need something to happen if you think your toes are gone. Maybe he should get a vacation. A few days to relax and spend his money on stupid little knick knacks and pampering.

Decided before he changed his mind, he called his travel agent.

New York City, Two Days Later

Pan rubbed her temples as she listened to the caller complain about her feelings for a guy, but didn't know if she should tell him. Pan had gotten calls like these ALL the time, and she gave them all the SAME advice.

"…but he's just so cute and nice. He'd never like someone like me."

"Does he talk to you?"

"Well, yeah, a little."

"Then he's taken an interest in you." Pan looked at the girls behind the glass window and rolled a finger next to her temple to show them this caller was crazy. They giggled.

"Well, how do I flirt with him?"

"Just talk," Pan answered, "Bat your eyelashes and sway your hips. And if you really want to get his attention, wear something low cut."

The girl on the other line giggled, "Yeah, I'm sure he'd look at me then. Thanks Pan."

"No problem, glad I could help," she pressed the button, "Next caller. Tell me what's on your mind."

"Um, hi, this is Robert."

"Good afternoon, Robert."

"Good afternoon, uh, well, I actually have a confession to make."

"And what would that be?"

"Um, well, I've been married for twenty-five years now, and we have three kids, two girls and one boy. Everyone thinks I'm the best dad, but I've been hiding something from them, and its been tearing at me for so long."

Pan leaned into the table and readjusted her headphones. "Well Robert, you have the decision if you want to confess something so big on live air." Even though this is what exactly what got the ratings in, Pan was still confused of why men had the galls to confess to a million strangers but not to their own wives.

There was a long sigh from the other end. "No, I need to go ahead and put this behind me before it goes on longer."

"That's you decision."

"Okay, the truth is…I've been sleeping with my wife's boss for a few months now."

"I see," Pan said to the microphone, "Well Robert, do you care about your wife?"

"Yes."

"Then you should know what I'm going to tell you. If you truly care about her, you won't let her suffer like this. You need to tell her and you have to work it out. Better coming out of your mouth than someone else's or her catching you."

"I know, but I'm not sure how to tell her."

"Since you're sleeping with her boss, this can definitely effect her job. You need to end it with one of these women before something happens."

"That's just it, though."

"What is?"

"Her boss isn't a woman. He's a man. How can I tell her that I'm gay?"

Pan sighed; why was it that men always came out to her? "It's still the same concept. You're still being unfaithful to her and she doesn't deserve to be in the dark. You and her need to work something out. My suggestion is to hang up on me right now and get home and let it out before it gets out of hand."

"I see. Thanks Pan."

"No problem Robert." She pressed a button, "Well, we're going to take a break, and then we'll have time for a few more calls. This is Pan Son with Afternoon Guidance." She pressed another button and then pulled off her headphones. The viewers were now listening to some music.

A woman walked in the room and set down a Sprite next to Pan. "You okay there?"

Pan sighed, "I just wish that guys like him could just tell their wives. Why tell six million people and risk her finding out if you don't want her to know?"

"That's people for you."

"People are stupid."

The woman smiled and sat down next to Pan. "We're screening the calls for which ever ones seem to be more important."

"Alright," Pan ran her fingers through her bangs and then looked at the girl, "Three calls and then I'm off, okay." It wasn't a question, but a statement. She was tired and was starting to get tired of the same things over and over; cheaters and love sick puppies.

The woman nodded and stood up, "I'll go get you a coffee."

"Coffee at five in the afternoon. Sounds great."

The woman chuckled. "Remember starting next weeks we're going to have topics for the day so you won't get the same stuff everyday."

Pan nodded and then rubbed her stomach. "Argh, I'll be right back. My stomach's killing me." She got out and walked off towards the bathroom.

When she returned, she had to hurry to her seat and quickly put on her headphones since they had ten seconds to air. Two, one-

"Good afternoon viewers. This is Pan Son with Afternoon Guidance. We have our fist caller. Tell me what's on your mind." She pressed the button.

"H-Hi, this is Jennifer Louise." There was a sniffle and Pan frowned. She knew how to decipher sobs and this didn't sound like a love sick puppy. Her cries were throaty and her voice was cracked.

"Jennifer, is there something wrong?" Pan moved closer to the mic.

Jennifer gave another sob. "I have a bottle of Vicodin with me. I'm about to down it and end my life. I just want my parents to know that none of it was my fault. Why do they blame me? I didn't do anything."

Pan put her hand over her mouth. A suicidal. She hated these. "Jennifer, before you do that, can you do me one favor?"

Another cry. "W-What?"

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Airport security sucked, even if it was his own damn plane! But he had landed, and where of all places? New York City, America. He was supposed to go to a place that would relive his stress, not make him have high blood pressure. He turned on the radio and heard a girl crying, but a woman was talking.

"Jennifer, before you do that, can you do me a favor?"

"W-What?"

"Can you tell me why you called me?"

"B-Because my m-mom and my sister listen to you and the only way they'll listen to me is if I say it on the radio."

"Jennifer, I know you don't want to kill yourself."

"H-How would you know?" There was definite defense in her voice.

"Because my producers have told me that you've been on hold for nearly ten minutes. If you were serious about this, it would already be over with."

There was a long silence.

"Jennifer?"

"I-I just want them to stop taking their anger out on me. I want them to stop the fighting and yelling. It's not my fault that she got pregnant. I'm sick of them acting as if it's my fault."

"Suicide isn't the answer."

"I-I know. I'm just so tired."

"I can get you help, Jennifer. Would you like that?"

There was a loud sniffle. "Y-Yeah. Yeah, I would."

"Okay, you stay on and I'll cut you off the air so me and you can talk, okay? I'm putting you on hold." Then the sobbing ceased and only the woman remained. "That's it for today, veiwers, sorry. Thanks for tuning in. This is-

Honk!

"Get out of the way, jerk!"

"- with Afternoon Guidance. Good night and best wishes."

Trunks turned into one of the condo buildings where he spent all of his vacations. This was familiar territory to him; he had a room reserved for him at all times.

A bell boy stepped up to his car as Trunks climbed out. "Can I help you with your bags, sir?"

"Yeah, I have a room reserved on 1576. Take them up there while I check in at the lobby." Trunks handed him the keys to his Ferrari to park, then went inside the hotel to the front lobby.

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Pan sat in her car with the air condition blowing on her. She let out a long sigh through her nose. She was glad she could get Jennifer some help, but people like that always got her depressed. The sky was now dusk but the air was still hot with the earlier heat. The concrete seemed to be steaming. She opened her door and climbed up to the elevator of her apartment building. When she got on, there was a short old man with a gray face and bald who smiled at her.

"Heard what happened today," he said. There was whistles in his words because he didn't have teeth. "Sweet thing ya did, not letting her hurt herself."

"She only needed someone to pay attention to her. I was there for two hours talking to her."

"At least you helped her."

Pan smiled, "Thanks Mr. Gerritsen."

It stopped on her floor and she got off and walked down to her room. After she opened it and turned on the lights, she was greeted with beige and white. The only thing that stood out was the black television and the fruit paintings in the kitchen.

She was so tired and hungry, but she had not gone to the store so she just ate tuna straight out of the can and popcorn; what a combination. Soon she fell asleep on the couch with the popcorn bowl on her stomach. Good thing she lived by herself.

_(A/N): Well, here I am with my another TP fanfic. This is going to be romance and angst, I hope. It's something I've been thinking about. If you don't know, this is basically about Pan running away and Trunks finding her through her radio station. Review please, it makes me happy. Also, I do accept flames (how else am I suppose to heat my house?) Thanks everyone, lots of love! Ja ne!_


	2. Long Distance Phone Calls

**Long Distance Phone Calls**

"Dende!" Pan cursed, "Of my crummy luck!" She kicked the side of her car door in frustration. She did need another car; this one had broken down too many times.

Cars whizzed by her on the busy road. Well, her car was useless, but she needed to get to work. She could fly, but with all this heavy traffic, there was bound to be someone who saw her. So she began walking, her purse swinging on her arm and her sunglasses blocking the UV rays from her eyes.

When she came to the cross walk, she waited with the small crowd of pedestrians for the cars to stop and the neon sign to give them the 'okay'. When they finally began to walk, Pan's purse dropped halfway there and she bent down to get it.

Trunks was sipping his morning coffee and didn't saw that he had just missed the green light. When he was about to pass the lights, a head with black hair and sunglasses popped up. He slammed on the brakes.

"Bakayarou!" The woman shouted and slapped the hood of his car, "Learn to drive, ya idiot!" Then she stomped off with her nose in the air.

Trunks watched the woman walk away. Did she just call him a dumbass? In Japanese? He shook it off and continued. It was then he noticed the small dent left by the hand of the woman. Trunks' jaw dropped. "Bitch, this is a brand new Ferrari."

When Pan got to work, she had no time to stop in the break room for doughnuts and coffee, but she did ask her co-worker to go fetch her some.

"You're on the air in one-minute, Son," called her boss.

"Thanks, I got it." She stepped inside the cramped studio and put her purse down on the table. Then she went to the mirror and checked her hair; she wanted to look good on radio.

"Thirty seconds."

She sat down and checked the sound check and all the other gizmos. "Fifteen seconds."

"I know," she said crossly. Her morning didn't start off with a good night. She put on the headphones over her ears and sat down in the chair in front of the mic.

"Three, two one..."

The 'on air' sign came on.

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Trunks was still grumbling about that woman putting a dent on his car, but forgot about it later. He drove to his condo and went to his room where the first thing he did was turn on the radio. He didn't know the stations yet so it was on a talk radio show. He wasn't paying too much attention to it; he was starving and needed something to eat before he died of starvation. So he dug through his drawer for the number for room service.

"You mean you loved this man for fifteen years and you never told him?" said the woman who hosted this romance-sick radio show.

"That's right. We lived in Utah together, but I could never tell him my feelings. I was afraid that he would never think of me that way," answered the caller.

Trunks went through the old papers and napkins that he had left the last time he was here. Where was that damn number?

"So what's he doing now?"

"He still lives in Utah with his three kids and wife I believe."

"Oh no."

"Yeah."

"Well what are you doing now?"

"I'm an intern at Albany University. No husband. No kids."

Trunks stopped when he picked up a photo. It didn't have the room service number, but it did have something he wasn't prepared to see. The photo was one he took when he brought the entire gang to New York; they stayed in this very apartment.

On the picture were all of them on the couch: Goten sitting on the arm, Uub sitting on the floor with his back against the upholstery, Bra with her feet on the table, smiling at the camera, Trunks next to his sister, giving her the bunny ears, Marron above him on the head of the couch, barely keeping her balance, and Pan. Pan was sitting against the arm of the chair with her feet in Trunks' lap. Her hair was a little messy and there was a tired smile; she was sleeping on the couch and Trunks and Goten forced her to wake up for the picture.

Trunks gazed at the picture. He gazed at Pan. His heart ached. He had no idea where she was, nor how she was doing. She never got in contact with them ever again. Was Pan that selfish? To not even let her family and friends how she was doing. Trunks hated to think that something had happened to her. That she was…

He slipped down to the floor of the kitchen, which now smelled of cucumbers and vinegar, and just sighed while staring at the picture. What he wouldn't do to be like this again.

The radio buzzed with a thick accent of southern woman who was talking on a static-fied cell phone. "And then he tells me that he don't love me like that no mo'e, and I said fine then, get up out my house."

"Good for you. Are you glad he's gone?"

There was a sigh that blasted the speakers with static, "A little. I miss him, but then I remember all the horrible-" the next word was bleeped out- "he did to me and I forget the little (bleep)."

"Very good. If there's any comment on this story, let us know. Call 555-TRUE and tell me what's on your mind."

Trunks got up off the floor. He wasn't going to sulk on his vacation. But he couldn't get Pan off his mind. He had lost his appetite and now only felt sleepy.

"Next caller. What's on your mind."

"Eeeeeeek! I can't believe I'm on radio! I love your show so much!"

"Well thank you. That's nice to hear."

"I just wanted to thank you for finding my ex's address for me. Now me and him are pen pals and we're hooking up over Christmas Break."

Trunks perked up. They helped find people, too?

"We're glad to hear that. I hope you guys will be happy together."

Trunks stared at the phone on the kitchen wall. They would never know it was him. He could give them a different alias. He could just tell someone his story, then hang up and never call again. Never think about it and no one would know it was him.

Before he knew it, he was dialing and the phone was ringing.

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Pan was rubbing her feet from walking all the way. Man, was she that out of shape? Her supervisor tapped on the window and she gave him a thumbs up to show him she was ready for the next caller. She leaned back in her chair and pressed one of the glowing buttons on the giant pad of callers.

"Alright, we're back. This is Afternoon Guidance; tell me what's on your mind."

This time instead of being a girl, she was surprised to have a man answer her. "Yes, this is Kurt." He sounded business-like. This wasn't going to be one of those I-slept-with-my-secretay-and-I-haven't-told-my-wife-about-the-baby-yet was it? "I'm not from around here so sorry if I don't sound good on radio."

"Don't worry about that. You sound great."

"Thanks. Well, I have s story to tell as well. It started about six years ago."

"Wow. That's a really long time."

"I know. Well, back home I had a crush on this girl who I thought had a crush on me, but she was going to college and I didn't want to get in the way, so I didn't tell her."

Pan shifted in her chair to get comfortable. "Did you ever tell her that you liked her?"

"No. Her parents hosted a 'welcome back' party, but she sent an email saying she couldn't make it. That was the last we heard from her. That was two years ago."

Pan frowned. Two years? Ad an email? No, it was way too coincidental to be true. Besides, this is New York, not Japan.

She was afraid to ask the next question, but forced it out. "Where was she attending school?"

"Madrid, Spain."

All the color drained from her face. She became aware of how small the recording room was. How it was losing oxygen. She couldn't breathe. She was becoming claustrophobic. No, don't lose it. Take deeps breaths. It's just a coincident.

She straightened up, "Well, I'm sure she's still out there, and I bet she still has feelings for you, too. We can try to locate her but it might be hard if she's still in Spain."

"I don't want you to contact her. If she doesn't want to be found, then she doesn't want to be found. Guess she doesn't really care about us."

"That's not true!" Pan snapped, "You don't know if she misses her family. Something could've happened that scared her and she was afraid to go back. She could be afraid to face them after all these years."

"You sound like you know what happened."

Pan blushed, "Uh, I mean, I'm just giving you all perspectives. Don't look on the dark side and keep fighting for her, Kurt. Do your best to reach her."

"There's nothing left for me to do. I just wished she'd contact her family. They really miss her."

Pan wiped one of the tears away that had fallen. "I'm sure she will." She straightened up. "Thanks for your call. We're going to have a break now before we take our next caller." She immediately pressed the button and got up out of her chair.

She walked out of the room where her boss was there, looking disgruntled and confused. "Pan?" he called after her, "What are you doing in there? We just had a commercial break."

However, Pan ignored him and walked off to the stairs. One of the colleagues came up to her boss and also watched Pan climb up the stairs. "Was she just crying?" she asked.

Her boss scratched his balding head. "What's gotten her so worked up?"

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Trunks set the phone down on the receiver. Of course they couldn't help him; did he really expect them to? He just put the photo in the drawer and went to bed, even though it was still early in the afternoon. He felt exhausted and drained.

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Pan took the elevator to her apartment, and plopped down on the couch. She could barely go one with the show after that caller. She had panicked when she thought that perhaps it was actually Trunks who came to play games with her head, but if I was, which it was not, she certainly deserved it. She was a horrible person for what she did. And for what she didn't do. Would it be too late? Would they hate her?

She had to see.

She picked up the phone off the receiver and made a long distance phone call that would cost a fortune, but she had to see.

A woman answered. A woman speaking Japanese. "Hello?"

Pan swallowed, already feeling like crying. "Hi, um, Mom?"

There was a gasp. "Oh Dende. Is it you, Pan?" In the distance she heard someone say 'Pan?'

Pan couldn't stop it. Tears fell. "Yes Mom, it's me."

"Oh Dende. You're alright. You're alive." She knew Videl was crying, too. "Where've been? What happened? Why didn't you call us? Hold on, I'm putting you on speaker so your father can hear."

"Okay."

"Pan?" This time it was Gohan. Pan's heart ached for the comfort of her father.

She sniffed. "Hi Daddy."

"Oh Pan. We've missed you so much. Where've you been, sweetie?"

"I'm…I'm in America, Daddy."

"America?" Videl asked in surprise, "When did you go to America?"

"After, after I left college. I was going to call you, but..."

"But what?" Gohan asked. There was no anger or aggression that she had expected from them. She sort've wished they would yell at her; it would've made her feel better.

"I was….afraid to. I wasn't sure if you wanted to talk to me since It's been so long." She could hear Videl sobbing in the background.

"We'll never be mad at you, honey. You're our baby girl."

Pan started sobbing and she curled into a ball. "I just had to get situated here. I've been working real hard, and I've been busy with stuff." It was all a lie. She could've called them anytime. She only worked six hours a day, talking and listening, a phone call. But Gohan didn't point that out to her.

"I know. It's just been so long. We thought something had happened to you."

"No, no I'm okay." _Even though I should be dying in a ditch right now_.

"That's good to hear. Will you call us more."

"Yes, yes I definitely will"

There was a pause. The only sound was Videl's sobbing. "We miss you."

That was like a blow to the stomach. It all came out. Pan hugged the phone to her ear and tears fell down harder. Her chest constricted. "I-I miss you, too. I miss you so much."

"Will you visit us sometime? We'll pay for the plane tickets."

"I'll see if I can. I will sometime though, I promise. I never break a promise."

"Okay, it's a promise I'll stick you to. Well, we'll let you go so you won't have such a high phone bill."

"Okay."

"We love you, Panny."

"I love you, too." She didn't want to hang up, but she knew she had to. Not with a goodbye though. "Night, Dad. Night Mom."

"Night?" Gohan gave a laugh, "It's nine in the morning here."

Pan laughed, "Well, then good morning. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Alright, we'll be here."

"Bye."

"Bye sweetie."

Pan hung up and curled up on the couch. The TV was displaying Jerry Springer. She could go home. She could go back to her parents' warm embraces because they still loved her. Why did she even doubt it? Maybe because she felt she shouldn't be. She was stuck between unimaginable happiness, and thick, dark guilt nailing into her brain.

One phone call is what it took for the door back home to be open. One phone call for her to drop to her knees and cry. Maybe she should make one more.

She picked up the phone again and dialed. It rang for several minutes before the answer machine picked up.

"Hi you reached the Briefs family. We're unable to take this call right now, but leave your name, number, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks for calling."

"Hi everyone. Guess who this is."

_(A/N): Okay, ch. 2. Also, if you haven't noticed, I'm not very good with radio people, but I wanted Pan to be on one. Also, Trunks will definately know Pan is the girl he called, but not yet. A little later. Then he's gonna...wait, I don't want to spoil it. teehee. You'll just have to see. I hope someone will review for me. The more reviews, the better and faster chapters will be. Also, I wasn't making fun of southern people, I'm southern too. I just thought I needed to add that. Lots of love to my fellow TP fans! Ja ne! _


	3. Trick or Treat

**Trick or Treat**

Why did he choose New York again? He hated traffic. What did New York always have? Traffic.

Trunks gripped the leather steering wheel and glared at the long line of cars ahead of him. Even here in Manhattan there was traffic. That's it, he was going to leave for home early.

His cell phone rang and he answered. "Hello?"

"Oh my god, Trunks!" squeaked his baby sister, "Guess what?! Guess what?! Guess what?!"

"You got a new boyfriend."

"Um, yeah, but that's different. You will never believe who called out of the blue."

"Elvis Presley."

"Psht, yeah right. No, Pan called."

Trunks' heart leapt into his throat and he swallowed it back down. "Sh-She did?"

"Yeah, she called Videl and Gohan yesterday. Guess where she is?"

"She's not in Madrid?"

"Nope. Get this; she's in New York! Right where you are!"

Trunks' jaw dropped and his chest constricted for loss of oxygen. She was here. Right here. He could've passed her on the streets and never knew. Then he saw his dent in the hood and remembered that woman. Could she have been Pan? She had the strength. What about all the other dark haired women he came across?

"And she had a sex change."

"What?!"

"Just kidding. You didn't answer so I wanted to know if you were still there. She's still a woman as far as we know."

"Thank Dende." Trunks used one hand to steer as he went up a little on the road. "So, do you know where in New York she is?"

"Not a clue. She just told them New York."

"You should trace her call."

"You really want to find her, don't you?"

Trunks paused for a second. Yes, he did want to find her. He wanted to know what happened to her. "She just needs to stop hiding and come back home. What's her problem anyway?"

"Don't hate her, Trunks. She's probably afraid to come home."

"But why? Nothing changed."

There was a pause. "That's not true, Trunks." His eyes softened because he knew what she was talking about. "The last time Pan came over, it was Chi-Chi's funeral. She might not've acted like it, but she could've been very distraught about the whole ordeal. Her one day to come back, and she attends her grandmother's funeral. Maybe she's afraid something like that will happen again."

He couldn't argue with her there. Pan had come home all happy because she had never got the letter of Chi-Chi's death in time. She was not ready for the funeral. And she had to console both her father and Goten who grieved for their lost mother. She had no time to grieve. She was busy. Was that why she kept away?

"Trunks, are you still with me?"

"Yeah, but I'm gonna have to let you go. I've got stuff to do."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye." He hung up the phone and tossed it in the empty passenger seat.

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Pan was seated at a restaurant with two of her friends seated at the table. She had just finished her radio show and they had gone out to dinner to celebrate the weekend like they did every Friday afternoon.

"I seriously thinks he likes you," said one of the girls. She was of Hispanic heritage with short black hair and tan skin. Most distinctive of her was her dark eyes heavy with eyeliner.

The girl beside her shook her head, "No way, he only sees me as a friend. He likes Chelsea."

Pan rolled her eyes, "Man, that Chelsea girl gets on my nerves. She is such a suck up."

"She's practically slept with every guy in the studio," said the girl with black hair, "It's like as if that's her to do list."

Pan took a sip of her champagne. "Yeah, step one, get out of bed. Step two, get into someone else's bed." They all laughed at her joke. "But seriously Danielle, Sui is right. If you like Stephen then you should try to get him. Don't let a skank like Chelsea get him."

Danielle blushed, "I know, but what if he doesn't like me?"

Sui shrugged her shoulders, "Big deal. You guys will still be friends. Just act cool about it and don't do that squeaky voice you always do when you get nervous."

"I don't do a squeaky voice," Danielle defended.

"Do too."

"Do not."

"See?"

Pan chuckled to herself and gazed out the restaurant's window at the passing people. She enjoyed watching people run their errands, talking on cell phones, and walking their dogs. She watched one couple walk past holding hands, smiling at each other. Across the street was a hobo sneaking a liquor bottle out of his tattered jacket. A few shouts were heard and a man was seen with a policeman, complaining about the ticket he had gotten for illegal parking.

Pan smiled, but it faded when she saw a man with lavender hair walk past. The color in Pan's face drained and she turned her head away from the mirror, using her black hair as a veil to cover her face.

"You alright, Pan?"

She looked up to see who two friends looking at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. But I do have to go to the bathroom." She stood up and walked over to the girls' restroom, which was empty of occupants.

Pan looked at herself in the mirror and fixed her eye make-up. She had over reacted, she knew. She had been jumpy these past few days ever since she called her parents. The last time she called her parents she asked about Trunks, and what did they tell her? That he was in New York. Ever since then she had been afraid she would run into him and that would be an akward converstaion. She hid her face from every boy with lavender hair, which was common around punk goth teenagers, and had even ducked in a clothes rack when she heard someone say trunks; of course, they were only buying bathing suits.

Pan washed her hands and turned on the air dryer. She hated these things. What if Trunks was looking for her? She would have to be more careful. What if he heard her on radio? Does Trunks even listen to radio? Would he ever listen to talk radio about romance and heartbreak?

Patting her hands dry on her slacks, Pan walked out of the bathroom and back to her table. When she came back she saw Sui was eating her chicken. "Hey, that's my food."

Sui smiled at her, "Well, you were taking too long and you can't let good food go to waste."

Pan took her seat and pulled out some money for her share of dinner. The waitress came by and they asked for take out bags, which they soon got.

"Man, I can't wait to go home and just sit on my butt and do nothing," Pan said as she stretched in her seat.

"Yes you can," said Sui.

"Come again?"

"We have to go shopping for our Halloween outfits tonight," she answered.

Pan raised an eyebrow at her, "Sui, it's August."

"I know, but it's Marshall's birthday tomorrow and he's doing a Halloween haunted house theme for his party," she said.

Pan groaned, "Damn, I forgot all about that."

"Shame on you, Pan," said Danielle, "And you're supposed to be his favorite."

"Do I have to go?"

"Come on, he's having it on his yacht," Sui said, "How many chances do you have to go on a yacht?"

"I've been on several actually back in Japan," Pan said with a hint of smug.  
"Lucky girl," said Danielle.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

One of the bad things about being famous was that all the other famous people knew you, too. To some this wouldn't seem to be a problem, but for Trunks, it was just too much of a hassle. One of these famous people that knew him invited him to a Summer Halloween cocktail party. This person being Marshall Vincrumpt who did have a wild imagination and always threw over-rated parties.

And Trunks said he would go.

He was regretting it now, as he saw himself in the mirror with his English Version Dracula costume. He had dyed his hair and eyebrows black for the full affect. It had been years since he wore a costume, and he realized how ridiculous it was. He was wearing a black and velevet red tuxedo with a cape. A top hat and cane had come with it, too.

Trunks fixed his hair in the mirror; no matter where he went he wanted to look good. With his fingers he spiked his hair up and saw how he looked so much like father.

_I should get rid of this goth tux and wear Saiyan armor_, he thought, _What's scarier than my father, Vegeta?_

But he kept the suit on and grabbed the hat and cane. He left his condo and walked to the elevator where a man was waiting. When Trunks stepped inside, the man stared at Trunks and his wacky outfit.

"A little early for trick or treating, isn't it?" the man asked.

Trunks smiled at him, "Nope, going to go donate blood."

They stood in silence until they got to the lobby where Trunks' lost him in the parking lot. Climbing into his car, he made his way to the busy night road near the harbor where Vincrumpt said his yacht would be.

An hour and a half later, Trunks pulled up to the docks where a large fancy white yacht was perched. It had been strung with spiderwebs, skeletons, and bats. Trunks came up the steps and was greeted with a large man with a round belly and a balding head. Vincrumpt was wearing a Santa outfit.

_How lovely, two holidays at once_, Trunks thought.

Vincrumpt spotted him, "Oh look, the famous billionaire president is here." He shook Trunks' hand. "How have you been, man? How have you been?"

Trunks smiled, "Great, Mr. Vincrumpt, yourself?"

Vincrumpt waved his hand, "Posh, don't call Vincrumpt, call me Marshall."

"Very well then."

"Oh, and you have to wear this." He held up a black Zorro like mask that was sitting in a bowl next to the railing.

"I was unaware that we had to wear masks," Trunks said as he took it. He was going to ask why Vincrumpt wasn't wearing one, but by the fine red lines next to his eyes, he saw that Vincrumpt had tried and the band had possibly snapped.

"It makes the theme more interesting," said Vincrumpt. "Go on, help yourself."

Trunks put on the mask and walked inside. Vincrumpt's parties were always adult themed, and this was no different. He saw women wearing very revealing and little to the imagination costumes. Couples wore matching outfits, and one couple was actually completely nude except for the masks.

He went straight to the bar and sat down on the stool, which he regretted later since he saw the bartender was the Indian from the Village People. "Uh, can I have a scotch on the rocks?"

The man nodded and made his drink and Trunks turned to the crowd and sipped his alcohol while watching the couples. It seemed everyone was here with a date. A woman in a leather cat outfit ordered a drink beside him before taking it to her date Batman. The music was playing through the speakers, but few people were dancing. This was a drinking party.

On the other side of the yacht, Pan and her friends were talking with two boys from work, each one wearing a mask. They were out on the balcony, getting cooled by the warm summer night's breeze.

"Can you believe Vincrumpt this year?" asked one of the boys who was in a Superman costume.

Sui shrugged, "It's better than the bikini skiing Christmas." She was wearing a female vampire outfit that showed much cleavage and a short skirt.

Danielle snorted, "It was so frichen cold." She wore an Amazon woman tiger pelt bikini.

A man who was dressed as Marylin Monroe came up to them. "Pan, Mr. Vincrumpt's looking for you."

Pan nodded and took one last sip of her margarita before handed it to Sui. Pan had worn a Cleopatra costume with a sleeveless dress and white high heels. She did not reveal as much as the others, but she still looked good and she knew it.

She followed Monroe inside and saw Santa talking to a quite good looking Dracula. She walked up to them and tapped him on the shoulder. "You wanted to see me?"

"Oh there you are," he said cheerfully, "Yes, I wanted to introduce you to my friend here. This is-"

"Dracula," Trunks finished for him, he shook Pan's hand.

Pan smiled at him, "Cleopatra, you can call me Cleo, but never Patra." He smiled a briliant smile at her.

Vincrumpt laughed out loud, "Well, this is jolly good. I'll leave you two to get to know each other."

He left and Trunks chuckled, "Funny man. Don't you just love his parties?"

"You should've been here for Christmas," Pan said.

Trunks smiled and shook his head, "Can I get you a drink?"

Pan smiled at him flirtatiously, "Trying to get me drunk already, hm? Is that how you lure your victims, Dracula?"

Trunks smiled back, "Only with ones as pretty as you, your highness." He moved over to the bar and ordered a glass of scotch for the both of them. He handed Pan a glass.

Pan sipped her drink and then pointed a finger at a man who came as a mummy, "Is it me or does he look a lot like Tom Cruise, but with a broken nose?"

Trunks cocked his head, "Sort've, but I see more of a John Travolta with a large forehead."

Pan looked up at him, "It's getting hot in here. Would you like to come outside with me?"

"Sounds good to me." Trunks followed behind Pan through the crowd. He admired the way she looked, classy and sexy yet not as flashy as the others. He liked that. She seemed like a true woman.

They came outside where only a few people were. Pan leaned against the wood railing and looked up at the quarter moon, sipping her scotch. "Lovely evening, isn't it?"

He smiled as he stood next to her. "Not as lovely as you," he said, getting his flirt on.

Pan smiled at him, flattered. "So, how do you know Mr. Vincrumpt?"

"We used to be rivals before he retired," Trunks said. "Then he moved to New York and we became acquaintances. You?"

"He owns the studio I work in. I work in radio broadcasting." She flipped her hair back, "He said I had the looks for radio." They both chuckled and Trunks leaned in on the rail beside her. The scotch was starting to have its affects on Pan because she had started drinking much earlier. "So, do you bite?"

Trunks smiled down at her, "Would you like to know?"

She moved closer to him, tempting him. "Yes actually. Yes I would."

Trunks grabbed her shoulders and bent his head down where they locked lips. The kiss then turned into a tangle of toungues and lips as they both gripped each other. Warmth crashed through them like wave on the ocean.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Did you enjoy the party, Trunks?" Vincrumpt asked over the telephone.

Trunks was packing his stuff to leave back to Japan. His phone was pressed to his ear with his shoulder. "Hes, it was quite fun. I had a real good time."

"I'm glad to hear that. How did you and that lovely young lady do?"

"Quite good actually," Trunks said as he folded his underwear. "Do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Certainly."

"I would like to get to know her more. Can you tell me her name?"

Vincrumpt laughed, "Oh yes yes. I had a feeling you two would hook up. She's the talk person for Afternoon Guidance at KOPS radio, Pan Son."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _

_(A/N): Okay, so Pan has been found out now. What will happen? Who knows... well, I do, but you have to wait. Also, I had someone ask me about thier ages. Pan is 24 which would make Trunks 38 I beleive, correct me if I'm wrong. Also, I got these crazy theme from a birthday party I went to in July, but we had a Christmas theme. Also, I randomly chose the name Chelsea so if your name is Chelsea it does not mean you. Sui and Danielle are my friends from school, but Danielle moved. Okay, well I hope you guys enjoyed. Please Read and Review and bake me cookies. Yum. Ja ne._


	4. Crossed Fingers and Tainted Champagne

**Crossed Fingers and Tainted Champagne**

He sat on the couch and stared at the phone like it was a sleeping carnivorous animal. He was still trying to process what Vincrumpt had said. Cleopatra was Pan. The radio woman was Pan. He had told Pan his story, using an alias of course. But who else was Pan?

His brain was numb from the shock. Did Pan know who he was? If she did, why did she toy with him? Yet, what if she didn't know? Did she know now? Today was Saturday so she wouldn't be on the radio. He knew where the studio was. What would she do if he just happened to come by?

The phone rang and Trunks jumped at the shrilly sound. Was this what he was reduced to? Cowering from ringing phones because he was afraid it would be Pan calling him? He scowled himself and reached over to it, picking it off the receiver.

"Briefs."

"Mr. Briefs? I'm Dolores with Blue Skies Air. I just wanted to remind you of your flight back to Japan at nine this morning."

He could cancel. He could stay in New York for a few more days and try to talk to Pan. However, did Pan feel like talking?

"Mr. Briefs?"

"I'll be ready for my flight."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Damn ringing phone_, Pan thought as she used one arm to try to find her cell phone. She knocked off her alarm and the empty Coke bottles on her inn table. Finally finding it, she removed it from the charger and brought it to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

"Did I wake you up?" asked Danielle.

"No, I always get up at six in the morning on a Saturday."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Why'd you call?" Pan hurriedly asked as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"Well, Sui and Jordan are taking me out to the book store. Wanna come?"

"Thanks, but I'm gonna stay in bed."

"Hung over?"

"No, it's six in the morning and I'm still tired."

"Oh, well, I'll let you go then."

"Bye." Pan rudely hung up and tossed the phone aside. Her friends knew better than to call her this early.

The only problem was that now Pan couldn't fall back to sleep. She tossed and turned, but sleep was deprived of her. She huffed and finally got out of bed and put on her robe. She walked to the kitchen unit and turned on the coffee pot. She definitely needed to clean up, there was still fast food bags sitting on the counter.

Deciding to check her mail, she went back to her room and put on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt to walk down in the lobby. That's what sucked about living in an apartment; you had to get dressed just to get the mail.

Pan took the stairs this time to the bottom floor and she went to the mail carrier slots and twisted her key in her own slot. "Good morning, Pan," came a shrilly voice.  
Pan saw a woman in her early forties with big red hair and 80s nylon pants. Pan had no idea who she was, but apparently they were familiar. "Good morning," she said with a small smile before she went back to her pile of two-day-old mail. More credit card applications to fill up her trash can. A catalogue to vote republic for senate. A catalogue to vote democrat. A booklet of coupons. And a letter from work.

'Dear Pan Son,'

Her name had been written in which told her that other people at work must've gotten this letter.

'Your boss, Marshall Vincrumpt, signed a deal with Tracy Morgan to overtake the following companies.' There was a list of names, including the studio. 'Due to the over management, some people will be let go by the end of the next month. We are sorry to say that the ratings of this network, KOPS, aren't climbing up to the history it has given itself. The following shows are on notice of canceling: Tom and Jones, Late Night Talk, Big Joe and Randy's Big Show. These people need to be on notice for any changes. In addition, more names might be added to the list, but some might be taken off.  
Sincerely ... '

Pan didn't care who wrote it. She had already crumpled the paper up and stomped up the stairs. What that letter meant was that they were not hip enough for today's people. KOPS was a station not for today's modern teenager, but the modern hardworking man and woman. It was the perfect station for both sexes, but Pan couldn't help but see that they had only taken out the two shows that were hosted by only males. Apparently, this Tracy woman wanted this to be a female station because that's all that was left.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe any of this," said Randy. He was in his late thirties with a cowboy look to him with a collared shirt and always tucked in his jeans. He was co-host of Big Joe and Randy's Big Show, and was also on the verge of being out of a job.

"None of this is fair," said Sui, taking a sip of her beer.

They were all at a bar, drinking beer and whiskey to drown out the worries of being jobless. Pan sat with her head in her hand and the other hand running up and down the neck of her Bud Light. Beside her, Sui was crossing her arms and pouting and Danielle looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"I mean I've been working there for six years, dammit! They think they can just toss me aside?" Sui banged her hand on the table and everyone gripped their beers to make sure it didn't spill. "They sent me a frichen warning saying I was too mean or something. This is all crap."

"Joe went ahead and quit," said Randy, "Said he didn't want to go through all the hassle when he knows he isn't going to be there."

Pan sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, "Ratings. We never relied on ratings before."

"Well, you're lucky Pan," Tom said raising his beer, "You have two X's so you're safe."

Pan didn't say anything because she knew that was the only reason she was still on. She was a female host, not a female office worker like Danielle and Sui. It was because of her gender that there was a bigger chance she should keep this job. She felt guilty of her sex, but that could not be helped.

Across the room, sitting by himself, Trunks watched the ring of friends drink their beers and curse their predicament. He watched Pan take another sip of her beer. He had come into this bar not looking for her, but rather wanting some alone time listening to rowdy men and drunk people. However, he knew it was she when she walked in.

She hadn't changed that much since the last he saw her. She still wore her jeans and T-shirts, but this time she had actually worn heels. Her hair had grown out and she put it up in a messy ponytail with some strands hanging out. Also, she still had that unbeatable cowlick that refused to go away. When he saw her walk in with that guy, Trunks felt a twinge of anger towards him, but with a wedding ring on his finger and not one on Pan's, he knew there was nothing to worry about. He couldn't see Pan being the other woman.

As he watched her, he knew she was not in a happy mood. She was stressed and tired. It showed in her frown and her glazed eyes. He saw the way she was only half listening to their conversation, which he took bits out of. Apparently, they were on the verge of losing jobs except for Pan, who was safe because she was female. Pan never had been the type of girl who liked it when things came easy to her just because she was a girl.

Downing the rest of his own beer, he put on his hat and sunglasses and walked up to the bar. "Excuse me, bartender?"

The man looked up at him, "Can I help you, sir?"

"I would like to buy a champagne bottle for that young lady there," he pointed towards the table where Pan was at, "The Japanese one with the long black hair. Could you give it to her before she leaves."

"Will do sir," he said and he gladly took Trunks' cash and tip before Trunks left.

He didn't glance back at her because he didn't want her to see him. This was not the time for confrontation. He had a plane to catch.

Back at the round table, everyone got ready to leave. It was still too early to be wasted and Pan was not going to drink. She had things to do. They made their way to the front of the bar and Tom held the door open for them.

"Ma'am?" called the bar tender, "Ma'am hold on."

They turned to look at him and Pan saw he was waving at her. She pointed a finger at herself and he nodded. She walked up to him, thinking maybe they had done something wrong.

"You got this," he said as he pulled out a thirty-dollar champagne bottle with a white ribbon.

She looked at it, "From who?"

"Didn't say. He just told me to give it to you before you left."

She took the bottle from it and turned it over, searching for a name but there wasn't one. "Do you know what he looks like?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Didn't get a good look at him. He had on khakis and a blue shirt, and a hat and sunglasses."

"I wonder who it could be from," she said.

"Probably an admirer," he said leaning into the counter, "Funny looking man though."

Pan looked up at him, "How was he funny looking?"

"Well, he had that sort've business aura about him, but he had purple hair."

Pan's chin snapped up, "A business man with purple hair?"

"Yeah, weird huh?"

Pan looked down at the bottle as though it was a poison bottle. "Yes, weird indeed."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Trunks sat down on his own couch, in his own home, back in his own country where he could fluently speak the language fluently. He still couldn't believe he hadn't found out that the radio woman was Pan. Now that he looked back at it, she did shorten her vowels and roll her l's like a Japanese immigrant.

Deciding that was enough of thinking of Pan, Trunks laid down on the couch and put his feet on the armrest. He could feel jetlag coming onto him so a short nap would be okay.

Whoever invented the phone must be in hell right now, he thought as he picked up the blasted device and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey big bro, what up?"

"Me, hardly."

"Heard you just got back from New York. Did you get me a souvenir?"

"No."

"No souvenir for your baby sister?"

"You've already been to New York twice."

"You still could've thought of me."

"Why did you call me Bra? I'm tired."

"And cranky, too. I just wanted to know if you saw Pan?"

"No, I didn't see her," Trunks lied.

"Oh, well she called asking about you today."

"Today?"

"Yeah, while you were on the plane. Called to see if you had gotten back or not. I told her you were on your way."

"What did she say to that?"

"Nothing, she just hung up. Probably didn't want to waste too much time making a long distance phone call."

She knew it was him, Trunks thought. She knew he was in the bar at the same time as her. Was she mad at him?

"How did she sound on the phone?"

"Why? You hoping she was anxious to see you or something, hm?" Bra asked in a teasing voice.

"Hardly, just tell me what she sounded like," he snapped at her.

"I dunno, a little stressed I guess. She asked everything in a hurry. I think she was busy."

"That all?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you so worried about what Pan's doing? Especially since you haven't even seen her yet."

"I'm not worrying about her. I just wanted to know if she felt homesick or anything."

Bra paused. "I miss her, too, Trunks."

Her words meant that Trunks could not deny that he also missed her. Missed her terribly. He longed for her comfort. He longed to comfort her.

"Bra, I have to go. Don't call me until tomorrow."

"Okay. Night bro."

They hung up and Trunks was left with himself and his thoughts. Back to Pan they went. He felt angry towards her at first when she hadn't returned. He still felt that spark of feeling ignorant not knowing why she didn't come back, but now he was worried for her. Not just her job, but she herself. Did she isolate herself from the world as she did them? Was she becoming a hermit, shutting herself in her apartment or house or wherever it was she lived?

Did she still mourn her grandmother who she was unable to spend her last few days with her?

All these questions reeled in his head as he closed his eyes and put his arm over his eyes. His house was stifling hot for not having the air turned on during the summer heat. Trunks was restless in his sleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pan brought down a wine glass and filled it up with a wild cheery flavored wine she had in her refrigerator. She had not opened the bottle that Trunks had gotten her, nor did she think she ever would. She knew it was him. How many other classy men have purple hair?

Deciding the best thing to do was to forget about him for now. She had too much on her plate. This week's pay wouldn't come until next payday and that made many workers mad. That meant that Pan would not be able to pay rent until the due date if not longer. She had already warned her proprietor about it. In addition, she would only be able to work the rest of this week until they came up with a new rescheduling for the shows, which meant she had another week off to bite her nails and worry if she had a job to come back to. Every time she checked the mail, she was always afraid of finding a pink slip. She nearly flipped when she saw a pink piece of paper with her catalogue, but it was just a coupon for a pizza place.

She sipped her wine and watched the television of Forensic Files. This was comfort to her. Silence, away from the world of business and stress. Away from troubled hearts and bad consciousness. She picked up the phone and called her mother for their weekly phone call. She hated to do this but it needed to be done. She hadn't even seen them yet and she was asking already.

However, she was nearly desperate for money.

_(A/N): Okay, here's ch. 4. Sorry for the shortness of it, I'm starting school tomorrow and its already 9:25. I've been sick all fall break, but that gave me some time to think about my stories.Sorry for the lousy business letter. I'm only 16 and don't work at a real job like that so I would have no idea what they look like. Also thanks for the reviews, you guys are my favorite people. Hope you enjoyed. Also, I try not to cuss so much, but there will be some very mild language coming up and some adult content. It's nothing in too much detail so it will keep its T rating. Lots of love. Ja ne!_


	5. Talk with an Accent

**Talk with an Accent**

**(A/N): Strong language in this chapter. **

Trunks' private jet was stocked with a large room and bar with a comfortable couch and bed. He was sitting on the couch watching the flat screen that was displaying a cop movie that Trunks was not paying attention. He just took sips of his rum and coke.

The plane landed a few hours later ands Trunks realized he had a few more drinks than he should have.

"Do you want me to call you a car?" the captain of the plane asked as he watched Trunks nearly stumble down the stairs.

"Yeah," Trunks huffed as he gripped the rail. His legs felt like lead. "A car would be nice."

It didn't take long for a black limo to pull out and the driver open the door for the billionaire. "Have a good trip, sir?"

Trunks looked at him and furrowed his eyebrows together. "Haven't seen you before. You new?"

The man nodded and blushed after being addressed by someone as famous at Trunks. "Um, yes. This is only my third week with the company."

Trunks stuck his hand out, "Trunks Briefs."

"Tatsuya Kimero," said the man as he shook Trunks' hand, still flushing.

"Nice to meet you, Tatsuya," Trunks said as he sat himself in the leather seat inside, "Take me to my house."

"Yes sir. By the way, Ms. Bra is at your house, too."

Trunks rolled his eyes, "Why is she there? She has her own place."

The driver shrugged, "I don't know, sir."

He climbed in the driver's seat and pulled out of the airport. Trunks noticed the bar and took down the brandy glass. Why not go ahead and drink when he was only going to sleep from jetlag later? The ice clinked together as took a slow sip, feeling the alcohol sting his throat as it dribbled down.

He noticed the change in scenery of top high-class houses and manors whiz by. His manor was only a fraction of the size of Capsule Corp and looked just like the others among the hundred acres across the terrain. He climbed out and noticed his sister's BMW in the driveway. He moved up the stairs to his front door and opened it, grumbling how it wasn't locked; Bra could be so irresponsible at times.

When he walked into his living room, he saw Bra sitting on top on of the tables with one of her legs covered in sweet scented shaving crème, razor marks going down her legs, and a bucket of water with shaving crème suds in it.

Trunks dropped his keys on the floor and Bra looked up at him. "Hi bro, when did you get here?"

Trunks stared at her in disbelief. "What are you doing?" he asked calmly.

Bra motioned to her legs, "Shaving."

"On my coffee table?"

"I didn't want to miss my soap."

"Why don't you just go to the shower?"

"Well I can't bring the TV in there, can I?"

Trunks rolled his eyes, seeing how nothing was going to get through to her. Then he saw, as she did another stroke on her leg, that she was using his razor. "Why are you using my razor?" he said as he threw his hands in the air.

Bra returned the look, "Because I don't have one here."

"Bra! I have to put that on my face!"

"Well sorry!" she said sarcastically, "What's so bad about this?"

"It's been on your legs!"

"I'm your sister!"

"That makes it worse!" Trunks grabbed his hair and grumbled, "Whatever, just forget it. I'm going to get changed."

Bra wrinkled her nose. "You smell like alcohol."

"I had a few drinks," he said as from his room as he gathered some clothes from his drawer.

"So early?" his sister asked.

"Its not-" he glanced at the clock and saw it wasn't even noon yet here in Japan, "Oh. It is pretty early." He saw his glass of warm brandy and he threw it in the sink.

Bra finished her shaving and wiped her leg down with a towel. "So, did you see Pan in New York?"

"New York is a bigger state than you imagine, Bra," Trunks said, purposely avoiding answering the question.

It seemed to have worked, "Well, she called yesterday."

"What did she say?"

"Some stuff's been going on at work and some people are losing their jobs." She poked her head into his room. "Here's your razor."

She handed out the blade and Trunks' took it and set it on his dresser. "Did she say anything else?"

"Well, she had to borrow money from Gohan."

Trunks looked at her, "She had to borrow money? Where'd you hear that?"

"Videl told Mom, and Mom let it slipped." Bra shrugged her shoulders and sighed, "Apparently Pan's been tight on money these last few days. Lives in a one bedroom apartment at the cheapest place, most decent place she could find, but Mom can stretch the truth sometime."

Trunks' furrowed his eyebrows together, "You'd think she'd make more money being a radio personnel."

Bra raised an eyebrow at him. "How'd you know she's a radio personnel?"

_Uh oh_, Trunks thought. "Uh, did you not know?"

Bra crossed her arms, "No. So you really didn't meet Pan?"

"I did not meet Pan."

"Then how'd you know she worked in radio?"

"Duh, I heard her on the radio."

"You heard Pan on the radio?"

"Yes."

"What does she do?"

Trunks shrugged, "Girl stuff. Listens to romance and heart breaks and gives advice to whoever calls."

"Pan gives lovesick advice?" Then Bra snorted, "You listened to romance and heartbreak stories?"

Trunks gave her a look. "Hey, it was Pan. I hadn't heard her in a long time."

Bra smiled, "You recognized Pan's voice?"

Trunks turned away from her to hide his blush. No, he did not, at first, recognize her voice. It had been so long since he last heard it, and he felt guilty about not recognizing it first hand.

Bra noticed the strange reaction from her brother and decided not to press on the subject. "So, when do you return to work?"

"Tomorrow," he answered her.

"Why so soon?"

"I need to keep myself busy and get back on schedule." He finally faced her. "So, what are you going to be doing?"

Bra shrugged, "Well, I'm working on building a new shopping center downtown. That's about it."

Trunks nodded, "So, when you leaving?"

Bra rolled her eyes, "Fine. I can take a hint. I'll be on my way now."

She left to the living room to get her bag and then walked out. Trunks fell back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. What was Pan doing now? It would be nearly evening now in America.

Trunks felt the effects of jetlag catch on and his eyes fluttered shut, and he decided a quick nap was necessary.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day, Pan was standing next to her car door as she fumbled for her keys in her purse. When she produced them, she climbed in the car and drove for work. Sui had called her with good news and told her that she still had her job. Danielle was never in any danger, so the three of them would still be buddies in the radio tower.

She drove in Manhattan traffic, having the speakers blasting with her favorite songs from a burned cd. There was nothing like starting off your day with the loud, rhythmic voice of Alanis Morissette to feel better about your day.

When she pulled up to the radio studio's crammed parking space, Pan let out an irritated growl when she saw someone had parked in her space; not that it was really reserved or anything. She saw it was a green Mercedes.

_Rich bastard_, she cursed to herself. Then she noticed that the words 'TRACY' were written for the license plate. That was the name of their new boss. Great, her new boss took her favorite spot.

She pulled into another space and climbed out, seeing the sun bearing down on it and she knew when she returned, it would be hotter than hell inside. She walked inside the building and waved to the secretary at the front desk who was helping a visitor fill out a form.

Pan took the elevator to the second floor and it opened to the office part of the building. People typed at keyboards and chatted on phones.

"Hey Pan," said a man in a Yankee's hat.

"Hey Shawn," she greeted him before she moved over to the mail slots to look for her name.

The usual list of letters and ideas and schedule was not inside. Instead, a bright yellow sticky note was stuck over her name. It said 'Meet me in my office. Tracy Morgan.' Pan pulled it down and crumpled it up. She was big on her pride and having a note telling her to see the boss' office out in the open for everyone who came by to see put a real damper on it. Her okay day was turning for the worst.

With her head held high, because she knew the other workers there knew what the note said, she marched down the hall until she came to the office of their former boss, with the imprint of his nametag still faded on the window of the door. She knocked on it softly with her knuckles.

"Come in," came, to Pan's surprise, a woman's voice.

Pan opened the door and saw a clean, neat room with a metallic desk and pictures of plants on the wall. The woman behind the desk was short with curly brown hair, a square jaw, and gray eyes that seemed too small to fit her face. It was a little unnerving to be in this office now; back when Marshall was boss, this office was clattered with paper balls, troll dolls, and crazy, funny pictures.

"Yes?" the woman asked sternly.

Pan nearly jumped, but kept her nerve. "Um, I got this just now. You wanted to see me?" No matter how strong and fierce you were, you always cowered before your boss.

The woman straightened up and put her hands together, "Pan, right?" Pan nodded. "Well, Pan. You know of the rearranging I've been doing now, right?" Pan nodded. She called it rearranging, huh? "Well, I've done some background checks on our employees, and I've come a crossed that you emigrated her from Japan, correct?" she lifted up a manila folder which Pan guessed was her report. "How long were you there?"

"Eighteen years," Pan answered, not knowing why she even asked that since it was all on her record, "All my life."

"And you're twenty-four, right?"

"Yes."

"So Japanese is your native language?"

_Duh_, Pan wanted to say. "Yes it is."

"What did you do right after you left Japan? Come to New York?"

"No, I attended college in Madrid."

"Spain?"

_No, Madrid, Alaska_. "Yes."

"How long did you attend college?"

"The full four years."

"What did you study there?"

"Human behavior. Psychology. Speech. That sort of stuff."

"I see." Tracy leaned back in her chair, "You know, for most immigrants it takes years for you to be a citizen. From what I read, it only took you one. Why's that?"

"I was apart of a special program in school," Pan said, "It allows people to take classes of the country they wished to be nationalized in with people who have top scholars. You have to learn the language, the national anthem, and the laws for you to succeed."

"And you've done all this?"

"Yes, I speak English and Spanish just as fluently as I do Japanese."

"But you are aware that you have an accent, right?"

Pan nodded, "Yes, I'm quite aware of that."

"So why'd you choose radio?"

Pan shifted a little. "I was recommended by a friend to Mr. Vincrumpt. He liked the way I told the truth for what it was, and he was a fan of my work."

"Your work?"

"He was friends with one of my professor's. He read my papers as a background check."

"I see." She opened it up and lifted up a piece of paper, "Yes, this does say you had excellent grades."

"You had to have a four point oh average to be in the program."

"I see."

There was a long pause where Pan just looked down at the metallic desk. It didn't seem to fit in the office at all with the neat filing cabinet and girly pictures. It stuck out.

"I've done some check up on your records about your childhood in Japan, too." Pan looked at her with her eyebrows knitted together. That had gone too far. There was no need to go that personal. "I read that you were acquainted with the Briefs family, right?"

"We were friends." The Briefs were not only famous in Japan but all over the world in fact.

"Well, you do know that ratings have been down lately."

"We usually don't do business over ratings."

"Well, it's a necessity," she said her eyes narrowing slightly. Pan stared straight back at her. "To be on radio you must have perfect speech and grammar."

"Are you implying that due to my foreign accent I am not suitable for my job"

"I'm just saying that ratings have been so low, it's terrible. If perhaps we could get a company like Capsule Corp to sponsor us, we could keep the stations we had before"

That was a punch in the gut. Pan's jaw dropped and she looked like she had been slapped. Her in-box was empty. Never before had it been emptied. "You canceled my show, didn't you?" The woman didn't say anything. "You went ahead and canceled it without telling me, and now you're saying that if I ask Capsule to make a deal, I can have my job back? Do you honestly think I want a job where the only reason I'm there is because I have connections?" Her voice started rising. "I worked my ass off to get this job. I have a perfect goddamn record and just because I'm from another fucking country, I'm fired?"

"Ms. Son," Tracy said, putting her hand up, "Please be rational about this."

"Rational?" Pan repeated, "What the hell is wrong with you? Half the people here have lost their jobs because of this shit! We don't do it for the money because that would be a stupid idea. We do it because we know how the average joe feels. They want to hear something about them, not about rich famous celebrities and teen beat!"

"You have to understand where I'm coming from," the woman said, "We don't live in a small town, we live in New York. I'm just implying that if we could get bigger companies to help us-"

"How low can you go?" The woman looked up at Pan, "You think I'm going to help you out after you're blackmailing me for my job? Do you honestly think I'm going to rollover like a dog for you?" Pan stood up abruptly. "I'm sorry that I'm from another country. I'm sorry that I have a little trouble with my R's. However, I sure as hell ain't gonna sink as low as let you walk all over me just because I have rich friends. This is bullshit and I'm not gonna stand for it. I quit!"

With that said, she turned on a heel and slammed the door shut behind her. As she walked away, people stared after her, but she kept her pride intact and marched on. A soldier.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pan stuffed her clothes in a suitcase without folding them. She was so angry that tars started forming in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had enough of this country for now. She missed her homeland and friends. She missed the spicy taste of actually Japanese food. The children anime shows. The techno pop music. Everything. She missed home.

She slammed the case shut, picked up the phone, and dialed one of the airports.

"Hello, International Flights. This is Becky, how may I help you?"

"Yes, I would like a ticket for Tokyo, Japan. Coach please."

"Would you like a two-way ticket?"

"One way, please."

(_A/N): Okay, well sorry for the strong language, but I could definately see Pan flipping her lid in this one. It might take a while for the next chapter because I'm going back in school and I have exams to study for and other stories to write. But, I will eventually get around to this. Thanks so much. Ja ne! _


	6. A Woman of Weakness is None to Be

**A Woman of Weakness is None to Be**

Pan sipped her glass of wine as her friends passed around the bowl of rolls. They were seated at one of their favorite restaraunts, sharing lunch together.

"I can't believe you just quit like that," said Danielle.

Pan put her glass down, "Nobody tries to screw me over like that. I don't roll over for anybody who just wants me there because of my friends and not my talent."

Sui buttered up one of the rolls, "So what's of this you going to Japan?"

Pan tore her roll apart. "I'm just going to be there for a few days. See my family. Catch up on old things. That sort've thing."

"Japan sounds awesome," Danielle said, "I wish I could go sometime."

"Next time I'll see if I can scrounge for a ticket," Pan said as she bit into the bread.

Danielle shook her head, "That's okay. I don't know any Japanese and I'm afraid of heights so me and airplanes don't get along"

Pan chuckled, "Well, if you ever change your mind, let me know"

"So, when you leaving?" Sui asked.

"Thursday," Pan answered her.

"How long you staying?"

"About two weeks or so. I'm not sure."

"Bring us back some souvenirs," said Danielle.

Pan smiled, "I'll bring back as much as I can."

"Are you going to live there?" Sui asked with her mouth full.

Pan shook her head, "New York is my home now." She turned to the window and said to herself, "Besides, there's no crazy alinens wanting to take over the world. No space expiditions. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that will make me want to stay." Pan frowned as she felt a wave of homesickness caress over her. "Nothing at all."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Everything was back to normal. Dammit.

"Hey Mr. Briefs, how was your vacation?" asked Trunks' butt-kissing assistant.

Trunks sighed as he stirred creamer into his coffee. "It was fine, Mitch." He walked back to his office where Mitch followed him.

"I've always wanted to go to New York. I heard it was a great city," Mitch said as he stood next to Trunks' chair.

Trunks looked up at him as he sipped his coffee. "Aren't you from Albany?"

"Only for a year. I was actually born in Oklahoma."

"Ah."

Trunks' office door opened and his sister poked her head inside. "Mind if I come inside, big bro?"

Trunks didn't look at her, "You're going to anyway aren't you?"

"Ha ha," She laughed sarcastically, "Good to see your humor isn't gone."

"Don't you have something to be doing?" he asked her as he leaned back in his seat, "A job perhaps?"

"I took the day off."

"How could I have not have guessed?"

Bra rolled her eyes as she walked up to his desk, "Well sorry if I wanted to check up on my big brother."

Trunks' raised an eyebrow at her, "And why do I need checking up on?"

"Because you just got back from a vacation and you look like someone said you were going to die in seven days." She looked at Mitch, "Doesn't he Mitchel?"

Mitch's face heated up and his cheeks turned rosy. "Uh, well, now that you've, um..."

Trunks' eyes narrowed on him. "Mitch, could you leave me and my baby sister alone?" Mitch nodded and hurried out. Bra might be an adult now, but Truks still felt obligated to keep her away from hormonous boys. "So," he asked as he looked back at his sister, "is there another reason you have to check up on me?"

Bra sat down in the chair in front of his desk, "You really do look like you're going through some stress, Trunks. Did something happen while you were gone?"

Trunks sighed and rubbed his eyes. "We've been through this before. Nothing happened in New York."

Bra slumped her shoulders. She ws worried about her brother, but knew if there was something worrying him, he'd rather die than pick at his pride. "Okay. I just wanted you to know that Mom's having a dinner party at my office."

Trunks looked up at her as she got out of her seat. "Why?"

"To celebrate my one year anniversary of my design show. It's Tuesday. You coming?" She walked over to the door and opened it, but didn't yet go through.

"Yeah, I'll come," Trunks smiled at her.

Bra smiled back, "Thanks bro."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Monday came and went and on Tuesday morning, Trunks knocked on the door of the Son residence. He was greeted by Videl who had flour spread on her cheeks from cooking.

"Oh Trunks, did you bring the slow cooker?" she asked as she moved aside to let him through.

He lifted up the box, "Sure did. Sorry your's broke."

Videl took the box, "Well, apparently Gohan doesn't understand that a slow cooker is for slow cooking. He tried to heat the stew up by adding more energy to it. I had him up all morning cleaning it off the walls."

Trunks chuckled and Videl disappeared in the kitchen. It had been awhile since he had been here. He saw they had rearranged the furniture, so that meant that Videl was nervous or gitty about something. Whenever anything important came up, she would rearrange the furniture of different rooms. Living room being good, and bedroom being bad. Or was it the other way around? He shrugged it off and followed her to the kitchen where she was plugging it in.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" he asked her.

Videl emptied the pound of ground meat in the cooker and poured water into it. "Well, I do need to get some more veggies. Mind watching this while I'm off?"

He nodded to her, "Anything for you, Videl."

She smiled at him and grabbed her purse. "You're a sweet boy." She put on her shoes and Trunks followed her to the front door, "There's food to snack on and if Goten comes by tell him to stay away from the meat platter in the fridge, 'kay?"

"No food for the glutton, got it."

Videl chuckled and walked out of the house. Trunks looked into the kitchen to make sure that it had not caught on fire. Seeing it safe, he moved to the living room and turned on the television. On the weather channel, he saw they were due for a thunder storm. Great, they needed water.

The phone in the kitchen rang and Trunks marched over to it to answer it. "Hello?"

No answer, but he had the suspicion someone was on the other line.

"Hello?" he repeated.

The person hung up and he was answered with the dail tone. He shrugged and put the phone back on it's cradle.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back in New York, Pan tossed the slammed her own phone down on it's charger. "What the hell is he doing at my house?" Her pulse was still racing and she could feel it bpush her blood to her cheeks making them flush. "Damn him!"

And she knew exactly who that 'him' was. She hadn't heard his voice in years, but she could pick it out in a crowd. She had memorized his voice to her heart, carving his words in stone in her mind. She swore to herself that when she saw him, and she knew she would, she would talk to him in a civilized manner. She would show him she was a woman and not weak. She would ignore all the emotions that stirred in her. Yet just hearing him over the phone had caused her to panic, her nerves shot. She froze as her heart race when he had only said on word. She was still weak, and she hated herself for it. In two days she would leave for Japan. She had to better herself. She was not going to make the same mistake she witnessed countless times.

She would not fall in love with a Z fighter.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The party had been formal, not a classy dinner party so Trunks was glad to just have to wear a collared shirt and khakis. The women wore dresses though, except Eighteen, Bulma, and Videl who wore dark slacks. Everyone seemed to be wearing dark colors. The music coming from the stereo was classical and faintly being heard. Champagne was being poured by the bottles to the glasses of the bored, trying to make this party more appealing.

Trunks dipped the older woman in dance. The song ended and Trunks bowed to her. "Thanks for the lovely evening, miss."

She giggled at him, "Bulma has such a sweet son. And a lovely daughter, too. My son seems to be taking a liking to her."

Trunks looked over and saw Bra dancing with a boy who was just a little bit taller than her. She was leading and it seemed his feet were made out of lead. He kept looking to the ground, making sure not to step on her toes. What a gentleman.

He saw Goten flirting with a red head, who giggled loudly at one of his famous jokes. Beside him was Uub, trying to get away from a tipsy woman who wanted to feel his mohawk.

Trunks chuckled to himself, as he made his way over to one of the tables where Gohan was sitting. The man had taken off one of his shoes and was rubbing his sore foot. "Too much dancing?" Trunks asked.

Gohan looked up at him, "Yeah, it's been awhile since Videl and I danced so long."

Trunks looked over at the woman who had rescued Uub and was dancing with him. Her face was flushed and she was near sweating, but the smile never left her face. "She really does like dancing."

Gohan chuckled and tied his shoe. "She's been in a good mood all week. It's good to see her happy again."

Trunks looked over at Gohan. "Anything new come up? I saw she redecorated."

Gohan nodded, "Yeah, woke me up at five in the morning to help her pick up the couch and TV stand. She kept humming, too. I'm glad she's happy."

"Why is she so happy?" Trunks asked.

Gohan smiled at him. "Pan's coming for a visit."

Trunks' heart did a double-beat, but he showed no sign of it. "Really? When's she coming?"

"Thursday night, or Friday morning. I'll have to look it up."

"Probably Friday morning then. Usually at night international planes make more stops and take longer, safer routes."

Gohan rubbed his chin. "Yeah, well we're planning a surprise party for her; Bulma's idea." Who would've guessed? "So we're going to be working on that."

"Great, is there anything I can help you with?"

"There's one thing you can do."

"Hm?" Trunks raised his glass to his lips, about to take a sip.

"Would you mind picking her up?"

Trunks coughed into his cup, making some champagne dribble down his chin, but he wiped it off. "Um, excuse me?"

Gohan smiled at him. "Well, I know she'll be ecstatic to see you. You guys haven't even talked to each other yet. You just pick her up from the airport and bring her over to the Satan manor, m'kay?"

Trunks looked at his old friend's happy face. Damn the Sons and their puppy eyes! He sighed, "Fine. I'll pick her up. You just tell me when." Gohan nodded.

_(A/N): Well, here's chapter six. It's actually very short. Looks like Trunks will be picking Pan up. What will happen? Who knows? I don't. No, seriously, I have no idea what I'm going to write until I write it. Well, keep the reviews coming and if you have any ideas, let me know, please? Thanks all of you!_


	7. Change

**Change**

The rain came down in sheets. The sky was so dark that even though it was mid-morning, the sky was gray and dark as if the evening had come early. Trunks drank his orange juice from a glass as he watched the rain fall and splash mud from his once perfectly groomed lawn. The radio played softly, but a commercail was on for Botox cosmetics, so he didn't pay much attention.

He drained the glass and set it in the kitchen sink. He was dressed in sweat pants and a wife-beater for training in his gym. He made his way downstairs. Near the basement area where a full gym was prepared for him and his more than average adrenaline; his mother had made it for his needs. He used one of the many universal remotes to turn on the speakers to play one of his favorite cds to work-out to. It pumped through the speakers and Trunks prepared his stretching. It had been forever since he did any exercise, and he was starting to sorely miss training. He felt embarrassed when Goten clapped him on the back during yesterday's party and Trunks felt the urge to say 'ow'. Of course he didn't and carried on, but on the inside he burned with embarrassment and kept debating whether or not anyone had noticed.

Trunks didn't like being shown as weak in business and definitely not in strength.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Videl felt that tingly sensation again. The tingling of hairs on her legs that kept coursing up and down. Damn, she hated the tingling. She pulled the covers off her and climbed out of bed, her husband rolling over to see what was going on.

"Videl? It's six in the morning," he said in a groggy voice, "Come back to bed."

She pulled on her night gown and slipped on her slippers. "I will in a minute. I just got to do some things."

Gohan let out a groan and slumped his head against the pillow. He was too tired to drag his wife into bed today. Videl walked into the kitchen and turned on the lights. The sun would be seen rising but it was raining outside and the sky was a dark black from the rain. She turned on the coffee maker and listened to the hiss of the hot water and the pitter patter of rain drops falling on their roof. It was a peaceful morning, and the tingling in her legs has seceded.

She sat down at the table and listened to the sounds of the house in the morning. She heard water in the pipes and the occasional creak of a ghost. For the longest time, the house seemed to be haunted by the presence of her daughter. While Pan was in college, Videl had made breakfast for her only to realize that her daughter was halfway across the world, just like now. Ever since Pan packed and moved out, Videl's been having these tingling sensations that forced her to get and walk around.

The small beep from the coffee maker told her it was ready. She rose from the table and chose her favorite mug and filled it, sniffling the strong aroma. Such a beautiful morning.

She should clean.

The thought brought a chuckle from her lips. For the longest time she had been acting so much like Chi-chi, who had once told her that she cleaned the bathroom at one in the morning because Gohan was fighting Cell. It seemed like the habit continued among mothers; worried about their kids and not able to do anything gave them only the satisfaction of cleaning. When she was upset, she'd clean. Excited; she'd clean. Her house was practically spotless, but she could pick something out that needed to shine.

Abandoning her coffee, she climbed the stairs to her daughter's old room which she kept everything in place for Pan's return, which was only the next day. The bed was a queen-sized with orange sheets that used to be her favorite color. Her bookcase was filled with fictional stories and stuffed animals. Posters of her favorite bands and rock stars were still posted with tacks on the wall. The place was pretty dusty from lack of attention, and that gave Videl plenty to do. Just a little tidying up.

She picked up a rag and spray and began dusting off the desk and bookcase. She sneezed a few times from the dust as she wiped down Pan's books. Then she noticed on the top shelf a little back ribbon. When she pulled on it, it was attached to a leather bound book with gold lettering that spelled out 'Diary'. ((A/N): Oh look, something that never happens in fan fiction)

She did not remember her daughter having a diary. Well, it must've been old since Pan hadn't lived here in nearly six years, so that meant it was okay to read, right?

Of course. Videl flipped through a couple of pages and read about weird dreams, days at schools, little drawing of teachers she didn't like with X's as eyes and stab wounds to the chest. It was just a regular diary so far. One date caught her attention because it was the day before she left for college. Videl would never forget that date. She had finally realized that her baby was all grown up.

_'Dear Diary,  
I've already packed my things for Madrid. My friends Jan and Ming-Lu are coming with me. I'm excited but more nervous. I can't believe I'm actually leaving, it feels like a dream. Tomorrow I'm proving to everyone that I can take care of myself. I don't need them to take care of me, and I don't have to depend on someone else to make me feel happy. I don't need to fall in love.  
I've come to the conclusion that there's a curse among the Z team. I've been watching everyone, and it seems like we always fall in love with the ones we work close to. This happens a lot in the human mind. They feel more comfortable with the person they're with. I've seen how they see each other and their hearts welcome each other. The only problem is that they have a job to do. That's the main reason I chose to leave. I will not be like my family. My mother cleans obsessively when Dad is gone fighting. And Grandma… I'm not sure what she does, but I can see in her eyes that she's lonely and heartbroken. She always has sad eyes. I'd hate to say this, but I think Granpa G is a prick sometimes!'_

Videl's eyebrows perked up. Pan and Goku used to be the best of friends before… before he chose to leave. Her frowned deepened. Now she remembered the confusion and pain that had been etched on her daughter's face. Now that she looked back on it, whenever the subject of Goku came up, she wouldn't say anything. She'd close up and keep to herself. Videl felt guilty for not recognizing it at first.

_'I mean, c'mon! Vegeta's better than he is, and he tried to destroy the world! At least he can stay with his family and be there for Bulma! Bulma is older than Grandma, but Grandma seems to be withering away. It's because she's lonely. I'm spending more time with her, though I can never be Goku. That's why I'm leaving. I know that if I stay, I will fall in love with someone and have my heartbroken just like Grandma. I'm not going to let that happen. I'm quitting the Z team and live my own life. My kids will never know they're Saiyans because they don't need to know. I refuse to be left behind for the world. I want to be his world. Yes, we are heroes, but to each other we are discretely foes. I will live a regular life. A normal life. I will work hard and leave the Z team behind. I'll keep in contact with them, but it will be distant contact. I am still a fighter, but I will fight for something else now. My freedom.  
I refuse to fall in love with a Z fighter.'_

"Honey?" Videl snapped the book close and spun around and saw Gohan in the doorway. "Are you okay?"

Videl's grip on the diary tightened. Her eyes began to water and her hands shook. Gohan immediately went to her aide.

"Videl, what's wrong?" he said as he held his wife.

Videl shook her head, "She's not coming back, Gohan."

Gohan looked at her puzzling. He knew she was talking about Pan. "What are you talking about? She's on her way here now."

Videl wept loudly and shook her head, "No, she's not coming back to stay. She hates us."

Gohan cooed his wife, trying to get her to calm down. "She doesn't hate us. What makes you say that?"

"Here!" She shoved the diary under his nose, "She says she quits the Z team. She doesn't even want to let her kids know that she's a Saiyan! She hates us Gohan! She even called Goku a prick!"

Gohan's frown deepend as his wife bawled in against his chest. When was it that Pan chose this? Were they really that bad in her opinion?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_'I hate airports. I hate airplanes. I hate coach. I hate people!'_ Pan angrily shouted in her head she she listened to her mp3 player to drown out the sounds all around her. Damn the movie 'Bring It On' and the ending credits! Now all the little children were screaming the words 'Hey Mickey'. She turned up the volume and her ears rang with Japanese pop but she could still hear the little boy scream out, "Hey Mickey! You're so fine!" The mother tried to calm him down, but to no prevail.

It took the stuartess to calm the boys down when she said they were going into turbalance and all kids needed to be in their seats and buckle up, which was a lie but it worked. The kids, all with pale faces and whispering voices, cuddled up to their mommies.

_'What if there's a nucleur war?'_ Where the thought came from Pan did not know, but on airplanes she always thought weird thoughts. _'And what if we're the only survivors? We'd have to repopulate the world. Who would I do it with?'_ She began looking among the men. _'Not him. He's gay. He would be okay. I'd just have to get rid of his annoying wife. Can't have stupid people multiplying.'_

"Ladies and gentlemen," came the captain at the head of the plane, "We'll be arriving in Tokyo in nine hours and forty-five minutes."

Pan rolled her eyes. Great, more long hours with spoiled loud brats and chit-chatty adults and mothers who chewed their food loudly. She hated flying. Hated it! What more could go wrong?

The music stopped playing in her ears and she checked the device to see it read 'Low Battery' before it cut off. Pan had to fight back another groan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When she arrived in Tokyo many hours later, it was morning on Friday. She was at the end of her rope in patience. Fourteen hours in a cramp space with whining children and talky-talk-talk adults. And now she stood in such a long line waiting for her luggage.

"I want Lucky Charms!" A toddler screamed at the top of his lungs.

His mother looked exhausted and looked like one good scare would put her out of misery. "Please Kaiyu, I'll get you Lucky Charms when we get home."

"I want Lucky Charms now!" the boy continued screaming, "Now! Now ! Now! Now!"

Pan grit her teeth and turned around, having enough of hearing the brat. "Hey kid, you like Lucky Charms?"

The boy smiled, "Yeah, but my stupid mommy won't get me any."

An evil glint flashed through her eyes. "Well then you should know that Lucky Charms are made from the skin peeled off the dead carcases of annoying children sold off by their mothers for millions, led by a prancing leprachaun who lures children to his underground dwelling where the only way they can sirvive is to eat each other or stop the pain by killing themselves." She said this in a sickly sweet voice.

The boy had gone pale and rigid and when Pan turned around, she heard the mother say "Now be quiet or I'll give Lucky a call."

Finally after standing in line for two hours, Pan felt her stomach grumble loudly from not eating in hours. But she wanted to get out of there so she made her way towards the parking lot with her luggage. At the gates she saw a sign that read 'Pan Son', and the one holding that sign was Trunks.

The moment she saw him, she wanted to dart away. He did not see her yet because she was off more to the right. Seeing him made her heart pound with fear, but she swallowed. She had to face her fear by marching straight to it. Holding her head high and carrying both her suitcases in each hand, she marched straight towards him, her heart pounding so painfully in her chest as his sapphire eyes locked on her dark ones.

"I didn't expect to see you here," she said as she approached him.

Trunks did not smile at her. He looked bored and annoyed, and very Vegeta-like. "Gohan asked me to pick you up. Their making a surprise party for you."

Pan rolled her eyes. "I told them no parties."

They made their way to his car and he threw her bags in the trunk. The ride all the way to her home had been in silent. Pan did not even glance at Trunks and Trunks did the same. The air between them became a silent, wordless battle to see who could crack first.

"How was your trip?" Trunks asked.

"Fine," Pan answered.

There was no more talking as they pulled into the Son driveway. Trunks opened Pan's door and got her luggage. "Remember, act surprise."

"I always do."

They marched up the stairs as if heading into battle. Pan knocked on the door as an act, and then opened it and flipped on the lights. When everyone popped out and shouted "Surprise!" she jumped and put her hand over her chest.

"Dear Dende!" she shouted, "What are you guys doing here?"

"MY BABY!" She was nearly tackled by Videl who jumped into her daughter's arms. "I can't believe you're here, Panny! It's so good to finally see you after all these years!"

Pan patted her mother's back, "It's good to see you too, Mom." Videl pulled away and saw tears swell on her mother's eyelids. "Aw, please don't cry."

"I j-just can't believe you're-you're here," Videl said as she draped her arms over her long lost daughter, squeezing her so tightly as if Pan would vanish, again.

"Okay okay, let me see her," came a husky male voice. Gohan pushed a few people out of his way and made himself over to Pan. "C'mere you!"

"Daddy!" Pan ran to her father's open arms and he kissed her cheek. "I missed you so much! How are you?"

Gohan twirled his daughter around before dropping her on the floor. "Look how much you've grown!You've changed so much!"

Pan was reunited with Bulma, Bra, Marron, Uub, Vegeta, Eighteen, Krillin, Piccolo, and Yamcha. Goten stood in the corner with his torn jeans and weathered leather jacket. He would've looked bad boy if her did not have the napkin tucked in the collar of his shirt. He had not immediately approached Pan because he wanted to see her from afar first. She indeed had changed. Everyone greeted her as if she had come back from vacation, not two years of no communication in another continent. Had he been the only one upset about it all? Was he the only one who thought Pan was selfish and a brat? Of course he was. Pan was Pan; she could do whatever she wanted and get away with it.

Pan saw her uncle and approached him smiling. "Her there, Uncle Goten. You've grown up so much."

He laughed through his nose and tossed his paper cup in the trash. "Wish I could say the same for you."

He walked right by her, knocking shoulders with her and out the front door. The room had gone silent as all eyes moved from Goten's back to Pan's startled and hurt face. Her eyes glanced around the room and she felt cornered.

"What's wrong with him?" Pan asked. Goten had been her best friend. What happned to her sweet uncle who used to give her noogies and mock her nickname?

"Geez, I don't know," said Trunks sarcastically on the couch, "Could it be that you left with no word right after college and were too caught up in yourself to call us or tell us you were okay, so we didn't stand around here like morons having no idea what the hell happened to you."

"Trunks please-" Bulma stared sternly at her son.

"No," Trunks said, his eyes never leaving Pan's. She saw dark fury behind those eyes. "I'm sick of everyone praising her as if it's okay? At least someone here has the balls enough to tell her she's a spoiled brat who only thinks of herself." Pan grit her teeth as she fought back the hurt and tears. "Are we so low compared to her that she can't even tell her family that she's actually alive? Are you that high and mighty, Pan?"

The room was deadly silent, as if no one was breathing. Tears dwelled in Pan's eyes and she clenched her fist, her teeth bearing hard against each other.

Trunks stood up, "I didn't think so." He tossed his cup in the trash and followed after Goten out the front door.

Pan stood there, the center of everyone's attention. She lifted her head up, biting her lips, tears clearly showing in her red swollen eyes. "Well, thanks for the party, Mom. Dad. I…I think I'll cut it short and go to bed early."

She picked up her bags and climbed the stairwell that she had not touched in over two years. She knew there would be changes. Her family and friends would have changed. She just didn't expect it to be a change for the worst.

When she saw her room, she nearly collapsed of guilt. It finally struck her like a bullet to the head. She was a selfish, spoiled brat who only thought of herself. Her parents kept her room together exactly how she left it hoping that someday, like today, she would use it again. Pan fell onto the mattress and grabbed the pillow, sinking her face into the satin case.

Her first night home and she spent it locked up in her room and crying.

_(A/N): Aw, such a sad chapter. Yes, I am putting them a little out of character. Also, that lucky charms thing happened to my friend but she turned around and told the boy she ate dead babies. I didn't see Pan doing that, so I stuck to the psycho Lucky story. Also, I started to notice that I was letting Pan get away with too much. If something like that really happened, thier families wouldn't be this happy. What's got Goten all up in a bunch and bad mood? You'll find out next chappie. Also, thanks so much for the reviews. They make me glee with joy.Hope you enjoy. Ja ne!_

_ps- you can probably tell I'm not a big Goku fan anymore. I just can't see how he can leave his family behind, but that's just me. _


	8. What More Can I Say For You to Love Me?

**What More Can I Say For You To Love Me Again?**

When Pan awoke, she knew it was late in the afternoon. The sun shone brightly in her window and the jeans she had fallen asleep in were wrinkled and uncomfortable, but she did not move yet. A hole had developed in her chest from utter sorrow and deep guilt. Why couldn't she see that this is what she would come home to? How could she think that she would return and everyone be happy and understanding with her? She was stupid to think that.

And her uncle. The man she opened up to and who would put her on his shoulder had now shunned her away. Trunks who was always a shoulder to lean on and a smiling face when you needed it. He was gone from her, too. It was not just them either. She saw it in everyone's eyes. She noted that everyone gave her only curt smiles and kept at a small distance. Yes, everyone was angry with her. And they very well should be.

But it couldn't go on. She had to make ammend before she left.

It took so much energy to drag herself out of bed. She felt heavy as she changed her clothes and sat in front of her vanity. She wanted so much to be a strong woman, when in truth she had made herself her own worse enemy. She was weak, lonely, and pathetic. Everything she tried not to be. She couldn't look at herself any longer. It made her sick. To look upon the face of what she was trying to avoid. She was that woman.

She was Chi-chi.

As much as she loved her grandmother, she did not want to end up like her. She saw how the woman busied herself by cooking and cleaning, just so she didn't have to stop and think. Everytime Pan went to visit her, there were always piles and plates of delicious sweets and large meals. She loved her grandmother's cooking. She remembered during the holidays, the women would busy themselves in the kitchen, preparing meals and feasts. Nobody could make dumplings like her. She had tried teaching Videl, but they were just not as good. She remembered the smell of spices and ham. She remembered the way she used a wooden spoon to smack the hands of her boys to keep away from the cherry pie. There was always a smile on her face as she hummed and busied herself.

Everyone thought she was happy. Even Pan was tricked with the façade of smiling faces and baked goods. Except for one night that terrified Pan forever.

Enough dawdling over sad memories. She had a mission to uphold. She was going to change everything. Turn everything back to the way it is. Before she headed back to New York in Two weeks, she was going to get back on everyone's good side, make up everything she did wrong, and possibly return home with no regrets and still keep incontact with the others.

Pan brushed her hair, applied some subtle make-up, and made herself look halfway decent. She headed down the stairs and saw her mother washing dishes of a meal Pan did not eat. The remnants of the party was gone, no evidence of it ever being there.

"Good morning, Pan," she said as she smiled at her daughter, "Wait right there and I'll find you something to eat?"

"No thanks, Mom," Pan said as she slipped on her sneakers, "I'll eat out. I've got to go do some things."

Before her mother could protest, Pan was out the door and taking off down the street. She was surprised at how little Tokyo had changed. Back in New York, an entire street would change in only one week. There were a few changes, more buildings and different stores, but she knew exactly where she was and where to go. It would forever be etched in her brain.

Overhead the shadow of a sky car draped over her before she flew off. It had been so long since she saw one of those. She continued walking until she saw a giant billboard that caught her attention. It read 'Hurt? Call Attorny Marron Chestnut. She'll get the respect you deserve.'

Pan stared at the billboard. Marron was an attorny? She could've sworn she wanted to be a surgeon. Then again, many people did change their career choice many times. She read the number under the sign and dialed it.

"C and W attorney's office," said a female voice.

"May I please speak with Marron Chestnut?"

"Please hold."

Soft Mozart played in the speaker. 'Damn, pretty classy,' Pan thought.

Then it was picked up. "This is Marron Chestnut."

Pan felt a sudden wave of nervousness. Should she even be calling her, yet alone at work? How did she know that Marron was very busy and talking to Pan was the last thing she wanted? Too late now.

"Hello?" Marron repeated.

"S-Sorry Marron," Pan said, "This is Pan."

"Oh hey Pan," Marron said cheerfully, "Is there something you need?"

Pan missed the simple 'what's up?' But now Marron was business and law. She was so much more ahead than she was. Pan felt a wave of envy but ignored it.

"Well, I was just wondering if you were busy at all."

"I don't get off work until six, but I have lunch in an hour. You wanna meet then."

"Uh, sure. It's no trouble is it?"

"Oh not at all. Why don't we go out to Syoi's?"

"Where's that at?"

"Crap, I forgot you haven't been here. Why don't we do something else then?"

"Syoi's is fine. Just tell me where it is?"

"Okay, you go down the interstate and keep going straight until you get to the Kopewa train station. Then you…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Syoi's used to be a skating rink, Pan remembered that once. When she was twelve, she got on the floor and could hardly stand up. She stumbled and fell on her behind too many times and decided to give up trying to skate on the sleek wood floor. She sat at one of the tables in the smoking section, waving her hand to try to wave the toxic smoke away. The waitress had brought over her drink and bread as an appetizer.

When she saw Marron-- her hair in a tight bun and wearing a skirt suit-- she waved her over. "Sorry it took me forever," she said as she put her coat on the back of the chair and sitting down, "Traffic was horrible."

Pan smiled, "Not at all. Pick something to eat, my treat."

"Why are we in the smoking section?" Marron asked as scrunched up her nose and waved her hand, "You haven't started smoking, have you?"

Pan shook her head, "No, this is the only section with empty seats."

"Damn, I forgot it was sports seasons," she shrugged it off and picked up the menu, "So how does it feel to be back in homey Japan?"

"Not 'homey' that's for sure."

Marron frowned at her, "I'm sorry about the guys."

"Does Uub hate me too?"

"Nobody hates you, Pan."

"Hn. Tell that to Uncle Goten and Trunks." The pit of her stomach clenched in guilt. She wanted this to be a good dinner with no bad taste, and she had to bring that up. "I'm sorry."

Marron shook her head, "They're still just going through some whiplash. Give them a few days and I'm sure Goten will be back on your side. You are his niece after all."

Pan stirred her drink, "He's different."

The waiter came and they ordered soups. Marron turned her attention back to Pan. "He's been through a lot these past years, that's all."

Pan's eyebrows knitted together, "Like what?"

"Well…" Marron looked at her hands and Pan knew she was contemplating whether or not she should tell. "Don't say anything, but he and Paris were engaged a year ago." Pan nodded, being a bit surprised they lasted this long. "He was planning out the wedding; it was going to be all white with lilacs. Well, two months before the wedding, he went to the clinic to get some test done, and it turns out his sperm count was low. The chances of him having a kid through intercourse are very slim. When he told her, she got upset and they started having more fights. Then she wound up pregnant a few weeks after."

Pan gasped, "No..."

Marron nodded, "It tore Goten up. He was so depressed after she told him she had a one-night stand. They broke up and he never recovered from it."

Pan put her hand over her mouth, "I can't believe that happened."

Marron shrugged, "Goten said that he suspected it earlier."

"He suspected it?"

"He said she started acting funny, but he didn't say anything because he didn't want to jump to conclusions. Now he feels like an idiot for not dumping her in the first place."

"How awful."

"Don't worry, he won't be like this forever. You should've seen him before; you would have wanted to either cry or beat the hell out of Paris."

"I can't believe she did that."

"Remember, you don't know."

Pan nodded. So much had gone on and she knew nothing about it. She made no effort to, either. But it was going to be different now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Goten held the axe above his head then swung it down to the stump, cutting the log in half. After the third one he stopped and looked over his shoulder and saw Pan in her coat standing a few feet away. He had sensed her long ago, but gave her the cold shoulder. Now he had to face her.

"Can I help you with something?" he called out as he sliced another log.

Pan suddenly felt very nervous and scared of her uncle. "Um, I…I just wanted to see how you were doing."

Goten didn't look at her. "I'm living."

Pan nodded her head. "I, um, I see you're living in Grandma's old house."

"I got it in the will."

"Oh, well…. Um, that's good." Not a very good thing to say.

"You got some stuff, too. In the will."

"Oh, did I?"

Goten swung the axe and wedged it into the wood of the stump and left it. He wiped his hands on his jeans and turned to her. "Is there another reason you're here?"

Pan felt herself shake for a second, but she calmed herself. This was her uncle for Kami sake. But she couldn't stop herself from fiddling with her sleeves. "I just wanted to know if we could get back to the way things were before?"

Goten rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I can just forget the years of us worrying sick over you and seeing Videl and Gohan worry themselves sick in just a snap. Yep, everything's back to normal."

Pan looked at her feet, feeling tears bubble to her eyes. "I-I know what I did was very, very stupid of me..."

"Gee, ya think?"

"Goten, please," Pan begged, "I'm sorry."

"Well what do you want me to say? You left for another country without telling us. You have no idea how awful everything was. Gohan was literally on the brink of suicide because of the stress. He was pulling his hair out. And then, out of nowhere, you call us." He put his pinky and thumb next to his cheek, mimicking a telephone. "Oh hey daddy. Yeah, I was just hanging aroung New York for the past two years. Yeah, sorry I didn't call you or try to get in touch with you, but you know, I've been so busy doing…whatever. Is it okay?"

Pan swallowed, trying her every will to not cry. "I-I'm sorry."

"For what? You had a great life. Parties and dates in the big city of America. You had your own apartment; your own life. Why are you sorry? You had it made."

Pan's chest convulsed and tears slowly dripped down her cheeks. "What do you want me to say, Goten? I can't express how sorry I am. I was afraid, Goten. I didn't know what to do."

Goten gave her a look that said 'are you that stupid?' "What are we to you, Pan? Just other people of the world? Dammit, we're family. If you were scared of something, we're here for you. How can you not trust your own family?"

"I don't know what I was thinking. I'm so sorry."

"Well…" Goten shook his head, "You're just going to go back and forget us again."

Pan shook her head, "I'm not going to do that again. I'm going to keep in touch with everyone on a regular basis."

Goten snorted through his nose, "Yeah, well, it still doesn't make everything up."

Pan closed her eyes in pain. "What can I do for you to not be angry at me, Goten?"

Goten shook his head, "I don't know. What you did was very shitty, Pan." Pan cringed; Goten did not cuss unless he was very upset. "You know, I have never met anyone like you."

He turned around to walk away. Pan bit her lip and stared at her feet.

"Oh wait, there is someone I know like you," Goten said as he looked back at her, "Yep. You're like Dad. Infact, an exact copy of him." Then he left her and walked inside his house.

Pan just stood there. She looked like she was told she had a deadly disease. It was true. She was just like Goku.

Oh Kami.

_((A/N)): Hey everyone. Another chapter of this tragic fic. I am sad to say that this may be my last fic on I'll finish this story ((someday)) and keep my name, but it may be my last story. Who knows. Well, please review. _


	9. Getting Older

**Getting Older**

He had never seen his boss concentrate on a contract before. Or on any document before. Now before Kito was Trunks Briefs, head in his hands and his eyes staring at the paper that laid on his desk with pure concentration. He was so happy that his boss was finally taking everything serious. For the past few months he had been brushing everything off and doing it half-ass. Kito sat proudly in the chair and continued to what he was doing.

'_Bad boys, bad boys,' _Trunks sang in his head, '_what chya gonna do? What chya gonna do when they come for you? Bad boys, bad boys. Da na na na…I don't know the words…'_

Then to Kito's pure horror, Goten walked in.

Said person walked in wearing dirty overalls and smelling of country soil and sweat. "Hey Trunks, mind if we…"

"No!" Kito yelled as he stepped in front of Goten. Both Saiyans stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "Mr. Briefs is very busy with deciding on what regions we are to challenge our exports. He's concentrating very hard and it's very important!"

Trunks lifted up the document and actually looked at it. "Is that what this is?"

Kito looked like he was three seconds to having a heart attack. His right eye was twitching. "M-Mr. Briefs! What were you doing that entire time?"

Trunks blinked at him, trying to remember what he was doing. "Oh! Trying to figure out the rest of the 'Bad boys' song." Kito's jaw dropped and his pupils grew tiny.

"The 'Bad boys' song?" Goten questioned.

"Yeah, you know," Trunks said as he stood up and stretched his legs, "Bad boys bad boys, what chya gonna do?"

"Oh, that one!"

"Yeah, that one. Do you know the words?"

"Not a clue." Goten shrugged his shoulders.

"Damn." Trunks grabbed his coat from the hat stand. "So where do you want to go today?"

"No, Mr. Briefs!" Kito jumped between the two as if he were a daring referee about to break out a brawl between wrestle rivals back stage, "You must stay and reread the document! You have to pick a region for the export challenge or it's going to be a disaster like last year!"

"What happened last year?"

"Do you not remember?"

"Not really."

For a minute, Kito's heart stopped beating and his chest hurt. Finally he was able to speak. "Sir! Pods Incorporate over took most of the east bay! They've nearly gotten the entire East bay! The East bay!"

Trunks blinked. "You mean the East bay that I bought real estate on four months ago?"

"Yes, the same one!" Trunks smirked and raised an eyebrow at his frantic assistant. Kito's cheeks filled with color and astonishment bloomed on his expression. "Oh…"

Trunks pulled on his coat, all while smirking with pride. "Believe it or not, Koji, I am more than capable to run this company. I have all the employees' interest at heart."

"Oh…" Kito said as he stared at the floor embarrassed. Then he blinked and turned to his boss. "Uh sir, my name is…" Trunks and Goten left and closed the door behind them. "…Kito. Hrm."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Trunks and Goten went to one of their favorite bars known as Syoi's. It was quite crowded since the tournament had begun. None of the Z team members were in it this term. None felt the need to. They needed a new champion to humiliate.

The two managed to get a seat in the non-smoking section—it was practically empty—and sipped on beers.

"So did you really want to talk or did you use ESP to know I was desperate to get out of the office," Trunks said as he lifted his eyebrows.

Goten chuckled and sat his drink down. "Well, I always know you can't stand Mondays, but I did want to talk to you. I saw Pan yesterday."

Trunks put his hands together. "Really? How is she?"

"Not to good," he said, keeping his eyes on his drink and moving slightly back and forth as something to do, "She came to see me at the house." He paused. Trunks took this time to take another sip and study the cars passing by on the street. "I was kind of mean to her, though."

Trunks shrugged, "What she did was wrong." In his mind he imagined himself as a stubborn child, but he brushed it off.

"She was very sorry, too." Goten said lowly. "She was crying, too." Trunks didn't say anything. He knew Goten had a very soft heart and could not hold a grudge long, but in a case like this, it couldn't be helped. "I called her Dad."

Trunks pouted his lip out in thought. "Well, in some ways she is like him."

Goten put his hand over his mouth and propped his elbow at the table. It was in these moments that Trunks was reminded that his best friend was older and more mature. He saw the stress that this man went through. Laugh lines were developing around his mouth and eyes, but it had been a long time since he had seen Goten laugh as easily as he used to.

"I just feel so guilty," the Son said, "I mean, she's still my niece. She said that she was scared."

Trunks looked at his friend. "What was she afraid of?"

Goten leaned back and shrugged, letting out a big sigh. "She never said. I have a feeling it has something to do with Mom's death."

Trunks turned his head back to the window. He was never good about discussing topics of the deceased. He always felt uncomfortable, especially about Chi-chi.

"I'm gonna call her today. See if we can get everything straightened out. Mom wouldn't want us to fight."

Trunks sighed. "I can't forgive her yet. She also left me."

Goten looked at his buddy with a pitiful look. "She didn't know, Trunks."

Trunks closed his eyes, slightly shaking his head. "Still. I thought we were friends."

"Maybe that's another thing she was afraid of?"

"Friends?"

"No, you admitting you love her."

The lavender haired boy gave a confused look to his friend. "What are you talking about? All girls want to be loved."

"True, but this is Pan. Also she just suffered loss." Goten shifted, a little uncomfortable, "Perhaps she's afraid of losing another loved one."

Trunks licked his lips and took a swig from his drink, draining it. "I think you're spending too much time with chicks."

Still, all he said made sense. Pan wasn't like other girls Trunks knew, and that made him attracted to her. While other girls were sugar and spice, she was cinnamon and hot sauce. So much different and lively. Not anymore. None of them were the same. They were all getting older.

"Just…" Goten tapped his finger on the table, "Don't be so hard on her. I'm not saying forgive and forget, but…"

"I won't hate her," Trunks finished for him. '_I can't hate her._'

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Click.

Pan lowered the camera and stared at the gate she had just taken a picture of. The white paint was peeling off and grass was curling around the legs. She lifted the camera once more and took another snap shot. This was the first of many cameras she had purchased. She was not going to go back to New York without some sort of novelty of home. She was not going to leave without taking some with her.

She began walking backwards, keeping the view of her house in sight. She nearly walked out into the road as she tried to get it all into view. When she lifted the camera, she heard a car and had to quickly side step as not to become road kill.

"Watch where you're going, asshole!" she yelled as she shook her fist in the air.

"Wow, you have spent too much time in America," she whipped around and saw her uncle land carrying a box, "You were the one in the middle of the road."

Pan swallowed and forced on her best smile, but it looked plastic. "Yeah, I guess. So, uh, what are you doing here?"

Goten showed her the box. "These are some of the things Mom left you. Mind if I take them inside?"

"Oh!" Pan jumped, "Of course!" She opened the gate and led him inside, holding the door opened for him. He sat it on the living room floor, then sat down on the couch. She chewed on her lip and then wiped her palms on her jeans which seemed to have soaked themselves in sweat in those two minutes. Then she made a move to sit next to him on the couch. When he did not move or give off a signal that told her he was still angry, she allowed herself to get comfortable.

"Thanks Goten," she said.

"Do you want to see what you got?"

"Oh yes!" Pan sat down in front of the box and tore off the duct tape that held the flaps together and moved the flaps aside. The first item she pulled out was a book, a recipe book. She had never seen it before.

"Mom made that just after you left for college," Goten said as if he knew her unvoiced question, "She said that you would need to learn some recipes if all you were going to eat was fast-food."

Pan smiled as she sat it down. "I haven't been eating many home-cooked meals."

"Well then those should come in handy."

The next item she pulled out was a wooden box. Inside were tissue paper and glass dolls.

"Aww," she said as she lifted up one of the figurines of a Japanese woman, "Grandma and I used to play with these all the time when I came over."

"I remember she hit me with a wooden spoon when I sat on one of them and broke it," Goten said with a slight chuckle. Pan looked up at him. Then she smiled. Whether or not he was going to stay being nice to her or not didn't matter. She would cherish this one memory.

After digging, she found a picture book, a jewelry box, and each time they would talk about their memories of her. But when Pan pulled out the last item, a home-made quilt, she broke down. It was a different match of clothing. Pieces of her father's shirts, her mother's dresses, her grandmother's aprons, and her grandfather's gi all sewn up tight and thick. Her heart broke. It ached for it. It wanted to jump out of her chest and snuggle against the cherished cloths of her family.

The thick cloud of all the feelings she held in suddenly poured rain on her. She brought the cloth to her nose, hoping she could whiff her grandmother's scent but only smelled dust. Her vision blurred with tears as she held tightly onto the fabric.

"Pan?"

And then she lost it. It all came out. She hunched over, not letting go of the cloth as the tears spilled down her cheeks, dripping onto the quilt. Hearing her uncle's voice talk to her with concern and not anger stabbed her in the heart, her already broken heart. Her shoulders shook as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. She laid her head on his chest and bawled the tears she held in for four years. He soothed her and rubbed her back and that made her feel more guilty, more selfish and Goku-like. More heart broken.

"I'm sorry!" she cried, desperate for him to respond, any respond, "I'm so sorry, Goten. I'm sorry."

"I know, Pan," he said, "I know." He had to chew his own lip and blink a few times to control the moisture that began to creep. "It's okay."

Pan took in a large breath of air as her chest repulsed. "I miss her, Goten. I miss her so much."

"I know, Panny." He tried not to sound choked up. "We all miss her."

Guilt. So much guilt she felt. "I'm sorry. I love you guys so much. Please," she pleaded, "Don't hate me. Please don't hate me. I'm so sorry."

Goten couldn't hold it in. He held onto his niece tightly and cried into her hair. "I know, Pan. Nobody hates you. I love you. You're my niece. It's okay. Everything's okay. I promise."

For that moment, he understood her. He knew how it felt to have to bottle all your emotions so as not to appear weak. And when you bottled it all up and then everything comes crashing in your way, it makes fear. If he were her, would he have run to escape it?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Even though he felt uncomfortable talking about late old woman, he did have respect. He just wanted to stop thinking. He tried his hardest not to think that his mother was actually much older than Chi-chi. He didn't want to think about losing her, but he knew one day it would come. It always came.

But he was not going to think of it.

He walked through the graves, being careful not to step on any of them as he searched for the familiar one. When he came to his destination, he stopped when he saw Pan crouching down in front of Chi-chi's grave. Beside her was a bouquet of purple lilacs wrapped in white. Trunks also had lilacs, but wrapped in green; they both remembered her favorite flower.

After a few minutes of watching her, he cleared his throat and croaked out a "Hey".

She looked back at him and smiled. Her eyes were glimmering with tears and her cheeks were slightly puffy and red.

"Hey," she said. Then she stood up dusted off her knees. "I was just saying goodbye."

He nodded, "Just paying respect."

She smiled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, blinking a few times. Then she turned back to him and seemed to be putting her thoughts together. He decided to wait.

"I know you don't care," she said, hardly keeping eye-contact, "But I just want you to know that I am very sorry for bailing out on everyone. I'm not going to do that again." She swallowed. "I'm not going to runaway anymore."

He nodded. "Just don't forget us in America, kay?"

She smiled, "I could never forget you, Trunks."

A moment passed between them, neither moving.

Finally Pan spoke. "I'll go ahead and head out. Got a lot to pack tonight."

Trunks nodded as she passed by him. "Pan, before you go, there's something I need to know."

He looked back to her. In the evening sun, he saw a brand new woman. Instead of seeing the selfish little girl he imagined, he saw a grieving granddaughter with a tortured heart and locked emotions. He did not need to hurt her; she was hurting herself without his help.

"Yes?" she asked, bringing him out of his realization.

Trunks chewed on his lip. His heart twisted against his sternum and seemed to have attempted at choking him inside out. "I…I was wondering if you…" he swallowed, "If you knew who sung the 'Bad Boys' song."

She smiled at him, the sunlight brightening her features before it crept over the horizon. "Look up 'Inner Circle'."

He nodded and she walked away. Trunks stood there next a grave holding wilting lilies as he watched the woman he loved walk away. And he could not bring himself to stop her.

_(A/N): Oh man! this took me forever, and I'm not even that proud of it. Either way, I had to update. Hope you guys like. Also, would anyone like to be my beta-reader? I've never had one so I'm not sure how it goes, but if you like to, email me at (yeah, lame and old, but I refuse to change it). Please review._


	10. Momma’s Boys and Stress Relievers

**Momma's Boys, Bar fights, and Stress Relievers  
**

It was raining down on the city of Tokyo. Pan watched it drizzle down the window as she took a sip of her drink. Bra and Uub had to go off to talk on the phone about some big company they were building. Apparently they were partners of a construction corporation linked off of Capsule Corp.

After ten minutes of Pan spending her time trying to see what rain drop would win the race, the two came back.

"Sorry about all that," Bra said as Uub settled her in her chair, "You just won't believe how many people listen."

Pan nodded, "So let me get this straight. You two build all the CC buildings?"

"Well, actually Uub builds them," the blue haired woman explained, "I just design the blue prints and layouts."

"And it's not only Capsule Corp, but other companies they sponsor or we have a contract with," Uub informed, "We've built most of the offices and businesses you see around here."

"We just finished the factory for Pocket Pods a few weeks ago," Bra said as she waved her hand.

"Pocket Pods?" Pan repeated as she finished off her soda, "I thought they were one of your biggest rivals?"

"They were," Bra informed her, "Until last year when we signed a contract with them. We joined together so. They take over production under our name in the Americas."

"I haven't seen any of them yet."

"That's because they're not so big yet," Uub said, "It should kick off in several months."

Pan nodded. "Sorry we're just now catching up."

"Oh it's no problem," Bra said as she patted Pan on the shoulder, "Call before you come back, though. That way we can take a few days off and be with you."

"I'll do that." Her phone chimed and she dug it out of her pocket to see who the call was from. "I didn't think I got service way out here."

"Who is it?" Uub asked.

"My friend, Danielle. She sent me a text message." She clicked her thumb over a few of the buttons and her eyes grew slightly a fraction. "Oh no."

"Why? What is it?" Bra asked.

"Is everything all right?" Uub asked, looking very concerned.

Pan looked between the two of them, feeling guilt sink its fangs into her. "I've gotta take this. It's very important. I'm so sorry."

"No no, it's fine," Bra said as she waved her hand, "We'll come and see you later at the airport."

Pan gave a weak smile. "Thanks guys. I'll totally bring you something next time I visit."

They said their goodbyes and Pan went around the corner to a pay phone. After placing change in the slot, she called collect in America. After several rings it answered.

"Hello?" said the person in English.

"Danni, it's Pan. I got your text message."

"Pan! Oh my god, I am so sorry. I tried contacting you all day."

"Your text said something about a fire. What fire?"

"Your apartment building caught fire." Pan's face drained of color. She tried to swallow, but her tongue was dry. "It burnt to the ground. I'm so sorry, Pan."

Pan sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, causing it to become messier than it already was. "Well, what about my stuff?"

"Most of it's burnt. I'm so sorry, Pan."

Pan felt her stomach curl into knots. All of her belongings were gone. Her clothes, her bed, her appliances, everything. It may have been only an apartment, but it was her home. And now it was nothing more than ashes and a few torched timbers.

"Pan? What are you going to do?"

Pan licked her lips, completely lost of what to do. "I'll…get a new apartment, I guess."

"If you can't find anything, you can stay with me."

"That's okay. Thanks for the offer. I'll see you later." She said her goodbye and closed her phone. She had no home to go to in America. And then a thought came to her that made her eyes water. She had no job either. What was the point in going when she had nothing there?

Pan looked up and blinked a few times. She was about ready to fly off to Dende's tower and curse the Namek for the horrible fate she had ensured. Or maybe it was karma. Either way it sucked and made things worse.

"Taxi!" she called out. One pulled out in front of her and she told the driver her destination. As they drove down the busy street of Tokyo, Pan laid her head against the window and took one last look around the busy streets.

---------------------------------------

"Oh Trunks."

Trunks spent one second cursing himself for not coming out of his office for another fifteen minutes. He turned around to see his mother walking towards him. She tried to act like she had just run into him as if she were just strolling along the building and hadn't expected to find him here.

He pulled off his best son smile. "Can I help you with something, Mother?"

She smiled at him and walked up. "I'm so glad I ran into you?"

_Yes, your son being the president of the company that was once owned by yourself can slip your mind once in a while. _"Oh really? Do you need something?"

"Yes actually," Bulma said as she waved towards his office, "Mind if we continue in there?"

Trunks frowned but nodded and followed his mother like an obedient child. If what she had to say couldn't be heard from the workers in the hall and must be discussed in private, it was either bad or a very big request. He shut the door behind them and stood before her. He never felt comfortable in the desk when he was with her. He felt he was sitting in her seat and not his.

"Why did you need to see me?" he asked as he saw her hesitate by looking around the room.

"Oh, uh, well," Bulma said as she dropped her purse on his desk, "You know that Pan is leaving today, right?" Trunks nodded. "Well, she has to buy another ticket since she only bought a one-way, and I was thinking maybe we could help her so she doesn't need to spend so much."

"So you want us to pay for her ticket?"

"Not quite. See, I was thinking maybe she doesn't need a ticket at all." Trunks crinkled his eyebrows together. His mother smiled one of her infamous plead smiles. "I was thinking maybe you could take two days off and fly her yourself in one of our own planes."

Trunks gave her an are-you-mad look. "What? You want me to fly her over the Pacific Ocean and across the globe so she doesn't have to pay any money? Why can't she get one of our private pilots to take her if she doesn't want to spend anything?"

Bulma played with the edge of her turtle neck. "Well, she doesn't know about it. She thinks she's taking coach again, and I would fly her, but I don't think it would be good for me in my old age."

Trunks had to avert his eyes. For some reason, he had always thought that his mother would always be there. That she was immortal. He used to brush off comments like these because in the back of his mind he always thought that she would never die. But after Chi-Chi's death, he finally saw that she was a fragile creature. Hell, she was nearly twice as old as Chi-Chi. Any day, he would be visiting her grave. It scared him. It scared him shitless.

He felt guilt twine its way across his heart, and he forced his head to nod. "Alright. I'll take her."

His mother smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks son. I'll go tell Videl and Gohan." And then she left.

Trunks sat down in his chair and huffed. No matter what, he realized, he would always be a momma's boy. But, it did make him feel good to make her happy.

**………………**

Pan sat in her old bedroom floor as she folded her clothes—pathetically, too—she set them inside the suitcase she had. It wasn't much, but her mother insisted she bring some more clothes home back to New York. Her grandmother's items were capsuled and put away, except for the quilt. Pan wanted to keep it out while she was on the plane.

"Pan, hurry up honey or you're gonna miss the take-off," called her mother.

"I'll be there in a minute!" Pan called after her. She stuffed the last bit off old t-shirts her mother let her have before snapping the locks closed and pulling herself up. Today wasn't going to be a sad day. Because this time, she wasn't going to keep away from them.

Checking her hair in the vanity—man, she needed a trim—she descended down the stairs where her father was trying to fix a tie he had on.

He smiled at her in the mirror. "Hey Panny. You look good."

She looked down at herself. She was in baggy jeans and a sushi hut t-shirt. Her father was a liar. A polite liar, though. "Thanks Dad. Where's Mom?"

Gohan finally got it into the tie he wanted. "Out in the car. She's trying to stuff some of your old stuffed animals in the back."

Pan rolled her eyes. "I thought I told you to donate those before I left for Spain."

"Hey, I tried to," he told her as he faced her, "But when she saw me with them she came after me with the broom."

At that moment, Videl came in carrying a garbage bag full of Japanese plushies. She set them down and wiped a stray hair that escaped her ponytail. "These won't fit in the trunk. I'll send them to you later."

"And I'll send them back."

Her mother looked hurt. "Why?"

"Because I don't want them, and I have no room for them," her daughter answered, "I'll either send them back or donate them to Goodwill in America."

"Well, at least take one," her mother said.

Pan huffed, "Fine, I'll take Mr. Bozzley."

Videl smiled and dug through the bag until she produced a tattered panda bear toy and handed it to Pan. "Remember when we got him for you. You were only ten years old and it was the school pageant."

"Mom, please don't," Pan said as she gave her mother a look between embarrassment and pleading.

"You were upset that you got chosen to be the evil witch and you were getting teased because of it. So to cheer you up, we went out and bought you a teddy-bear to make you feel better." Her mother let out a sigh, thinking of the memory. "You loved that thing to death and you played a magnificent wicked witch."

Pan sniffed the stuffed bear. "Yeah, do you also remember that I got sick a few months after and threw-up all over him, too?" Her face contorted with disgust. "Did you ever wash him?"

"Come on," ushered Gohan, "We need to leave now or we're gonna be late."

The three of them headed out the door and into the air car. Pan enjoyed the ride and gazed out the window at the city below them. Videl had the air on high and Gohan and Pan were nearly freezing. She had found out that her mother was going through menopause. The only thing she suffered through was the hot flashes. Her mother was the kind of person that never let hormones get the better of her.

Pan was too busy in a daydream to realize they had stopped, at Capsule Corp no less. She gave her parents a questionable gaze. "What are we doing here?"

"Just saying goodbye," Gohan said as they exited the car.

They walked up the brick walkway to the house. Gohan rang the doorbell, and then stuffed his hands in his pockets. After a while when no one answered, Videl rang it.

"Doesn't anyone in this house know how to answer a damn door?!" came a yell from inside.

Pan blinked, "Was that…"

The answer to her question came when the door answered and Vegeta's disgruntled face answered. Pan couldn't stop her jaw from dropping. He was still big and muscular, but now he sported a goatee and had laugh lines around his mouth and eyes—laugh lines! Who ever saw Vegeta laugh?

Vegeta saw Pan's shocked expression and raised his infamous eyebrow at her. "What?"

Pan blinked and closed her mouth, and put on her best smile. "It's just I haven't seen you for so long, that's all. You…um, you look different. Good, I mean."

Vegeta gave her an expressionless look before turning around and bellowing out, "Woman! The Sons are here!"

"Can you take them to the back?"

"Why can't you?"

"I'm busy!"

"And it never occurred to you that I was, too?"

"C'mon Vegeta! I'm busy right now!"

"Uh, we can find our way to the back," said Gohan as he cut his way through past Vegeta, who only grunted and walked back to wherever he went.

Pan glanced around the manor she had not been to in six years before she pushed past the familiar sliding glass and stepped into the backyard garden that was in full bloom.

"Oh wow…" Pan said as she peered around. The last she saw, it was only a lawn and every garden Bulma attempted to grow died before they hit bloom.

"She finally called in some gardeners," her mother answered the unannounced question Pan was thinking.

"Gohan."

They turned around and saw Goten hovering down before he landed. He was wearing a tattered pair of overalls that were covered in dirt and oil stains.

He smiled at them, and Pan saw her old uncle again. "We're getting everything ready. We're just checking all the kinks before the take-off."

"Take off?" Pan looked back at her parents, "What take-off?"

"Uh…" Her parents suddenly averted their eyes.

"What take-off?" Pan repeated.

"Goten, do you have that wrench yet?" came a familiar call. Pan turned around and saw from the dome was Trunks, wearing a gray jump suit that had matching stains on it with Goten's, but not as tattered. He walked over and wiped sweat off his forehead. "You almost ready, Pan?"

Pan blinked at him questionably. "Ready for what?" Trunks looked from her to Gohan, and realized that she did not yet know, nor was her father going to inform her.

Trunks looked from him to her, "Uh, well I'm going to be taking you back to America."

Her jaw dropped, "What?" She spun around and looked at her parents as she crossed her arms. "And when was this decided?"

"This morning," Videl confessed, "We just want to help you out so you don't have to spend that much money and have extra for your apartment."

Oh shiznits. She hadn't told them about the fire. Better not let them worry.

"Oh, um…alright then," she faced Trunks, "I'm ready then."

He nodded, "We're tuning it up, but we should be ready in a half hour."

She nodded and turned away and walked back to the patio. Her parents looked at one another, feeling guilty about not telling her the change of plans. They kept their distance when they noticed she was fuming.

**…………………….**

It turned out that it was two hours later before she was called to climb in. The plane was jet-like with a two-seater. Trunks had changed and helped her strap in, trying not to concentrate on how the X-straps of the seat cupped her breasts in a weird way, before climbing in beside her.

"Bye Pan!" called her father, "We love you!"

"Take care, Panny!" called her mother, who then burst into tears and cradled into her father's arms.

"Call and write!" Goten yelled over the scream of the engine.

"I will!" Pan hollered, "Bye everybody, love ya'll! Tell Marron, Bra, and Uub I said bye!"

With one last wave, and a really loud noise, they took off into the air. Trunks steadied the craft a few thousand feet before flipping on a button.

"Okay, auto-pilot," he muttered as he took his headset off. Then he looked at Pan. "Hungry?"

He saw her blush, why he didn't know. "Uh, yeah, sort of," she said.

He strapped off the safety belts and ducked under and opened one of the cargo flaps they had. He produced two sandwiches that were the size of softballs and handed one to Pan. They ate in an awkward silence before Trunks felt like he needed to break it, so he said the first thing that popped into his head.

"Bra got into a bar fight."

Pan choked on a piece of her sandwich and started coughing. Trunks rubbed and patted her back as she forced it down her esophagus. "She did what?"

Trunks smiled, chuckling a bit. "It was her twenty-second birthday and me and Goten took her and Paris out to this club. Well, there was this girl there that started talking shit about how Bra was a bimbo and all this stuff. They start yelling at each other and throwing threats around before Goten and I decided we had to leave before we were kicked out. So we take them to a bar and a couple hours later, guess who shows up?"

Pan couldn't keep from giggling. "You're kidding!"

Trunks laughed and shook his head. "Not at all. She and Bra got into the biggest cat fight I had ever seen. We were about to leave when the girl called Bra chicken when she wouldn't hit her."

"What did Bra do?"

"She hit her. Pulled her arm back and wham! Right in the face. Then she climbed on top of her and started whaling."

Pan looked shocked, but couldn't help give kudos to Bra for reacting like…her. "Did she press charges?"

Trunks shook his head as he swallowed some meat. "No, but it took me and Goten to pull her off. Scratched the hell out of me, too."

Pan couldn't quit laughing. "I cannot believe she did that."

"Oh Mom was pissed when she found out."

"What about Vegeta?"

"He asked if she at least broke something. Then Mom hit him."

**……………………**

After granting permission to land in New York's airport plane way, night had settled and the two rode in Trunks' car that he apparently he called some dealer to arrange for them.

"Where's your apartment again?" he asked as they pulled away.

"Uh…" she chewed on her lip, "You can actually drop me off anywhere. I'll be fine on my own?"

Trunks laughed. "Yeah, leave you alone in the middle of the night on the streets of New York. C'mon, where's your apartment?" She mumbled something he couldn't understand. "Come again?"

"It burned."

It took him a while to understand what she was saying. "It burned? Like, down to the ground?" She sheepishly nodded. "Dende Pan! Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because I didn't anyone to freak!" she defended.

"Who's freaking?"

"You are!"

"Okay okay," he said as he put his hands up, "You'll just stay at my condo then."

"What?"

He gave her a look, "Well, what else are you going to do? Try to find a hotel?"

She scowled at him. "I can probably spend the night at a friend's."

"At two in the morning?" She pouted, defeated. "Look, just stay at my place for awhile until you get your own." He patted her leg. "Nothing bad will happen, I promise."

**………………….**

"We weren't expecting this, were we?" Pan asked.

"No, we were not." Trunks admitted.

"Didn't you say that nothing bad would happen?"

"It wasn't that bad."

"What is wrong with us?"

"Stress?"

"Yes, that's it. Stress. Stress can make us do stupid stuff."

"C'mon, it's not that bad."

"Not that bad? How is this not bad?"

Both Pan and Trunks were lying in his king sized bed, each covered themselves with the sheets. Both were naked and their hair ruffled and pink tingeing their cheeks from previous activities.

"We just had a one-night stand!"

Trunks looked at her. "It's okay. We'll just have to pretend it never happened."

Pan groaned and covered herself more with the sheets. "I feel so awful."

"You do?" There was hurt in his voice. Perhaps he had taken advantage of her. Then again, it was she who put on the moves. Still….he was the man. He should've stopped, but damn after he saw her.

"Are we bad people?" she asked after awhile.

"No, we're not. We're just frustrated and stressed out, that's all." He lifted his head onto his propped hand and looked at her. He couldn't help but see how beautiful she was. "And it's not like we're strangers. We've known each other since we were young. Hell, I remember the day you were born."

"You're making it worse, Trunks," she said as she turned her back to him. Such a pretty and smooth back, too. He ran his fingers up and down her spine in an attempt to comfort her. "I can't believe I had sex when I'm not in a relationship." She groaned again and after awhile asked, "So we only did this because of stress?"

"Yes."

"And there are no strings attached and no guilt?"

"I don't see why there needs to be."

She turned back and faced the ceiling, not concentrating on the handsome stark naked man that was beside her. Her cheeks flushed. "Okay, I can do that. We just had a…"

"An act of stress relieving."

"Yes, that."

"….This stays between us, too."

"Gotcha."

_(A/N): Teehee, I'm evil. Weren't expecting that, were you? Review please. I like the reviews! Ja ne._


	11. Red Wine

**Red Wine**

Dende was against her. That had to be it. She stared out the window of the condo at the stormy rain clouds. A yawn escaped her. She hadn't slept well the night before. How could she? After what she and Trunks had done? He left his bed to her and slept on the couch, but even though she was alone, she felt his presence. No, she wished for his presence. She was kept awake all night with thoughts and memories of the previous night. It would have been better if they had been flat out drunk, stumbling over each other and having clumsy sex, barely having any memory of it all and still being able to blame it all on the alcohol.

But unfortunately, they were not drunk; they had not had even one drink since getting home unless someone spiked the tap water. She had full memory of the event and it had definitely not been clumsy. It was anything but that. He knew where to touch, where to kiss, where to….well, she would always remember it. And she had complied. She fought for dominance against him before giving in. She was the one who set the mood when she climbed into his lap to cry after seeing her apartment on the news. He just comforted her; rubbing her back….and we all knew where that led.

Pan cleared her throat as she felt her breathing hitched at remembering the night before. She decided to instead busy herself by thinking of flying up to Korin's tower and cursing the Namek to the seven layers of hell for all she had been put through. The one night-stand would have been better to forget if the one she slept with wasn't in the same room as her. Thanks to the thunder storms that were threatening, Trunks had to stay in New York and could not fly back home. She wanted him there, and yet she didn't. It was hard to say. And it wasn't like she was a virgin. She had lost 'it' during college in Spain with her boyfriend; whom she dumped later after she had enough of him depending on her for cash. Cuteness only went so far.

The jingle her phone gave off made her jump. She flipped it open to see her friend's number. "Moshi-moshi?"

"Uh…" Danielle said, unsure of what to say to that.

"Sorry, it still feels like I'm in Japan," she said in English, "What's up?"

"You sound tired. Did I call at a bad time?"

"No, I'm just recovering from a long night." _In more ways than one, _she thought.

"Oh, well I just wanted to say welcome back and wanted to know what you were doing tonight."

Pan shrugged her shoulder as she moved over to the couch and sat down. "Not really, why?"

"I want you to meet my boyfriend!"

"You got a boyfriend? Who is he?"

"His name's Derek and he works at the art museum. He's the fancy guy that shows them around and names the pieces."

"What were you doing in a museum of all places?" She knew full well her friend thought museums and anything of the sort were boring pieces of old dusty artifacts.

"Flirting, of course! How else do you think I snagged him?" Pan had to look at the number to remind herself who she was talking to. At that moment, she had sounded like an American version of Bra. "So, do you think you can come over?"

"I don't know, it's kind of late. And it might storm."

"Yeah…and I guess you won't want to be around us and our boyfriends all night, either. You'd probably get sick of all the mushy stuff, anyway."

"Wait, us? Our? What's with all that?"

"Oh, silly me. Sui has a boyfriend, too. Remember Randy?"

"Him?!" Pan asked surprised. Randy was much older than her. He was in his late forties, but she had to admit he still looked good.

"I know, can you believe it? They just sort've said 'what the hell' and gave it a shot. She told me it's mostly for the sex though."

Trunks had walked into the kitchen and could see Pan on the couch talking on the phone with her legs curled up with her knees on her chest. He wiped the sleep from his eyes having not gotten his full eight hours—for the same reasons as Pan—and waved her a hello. "Morning Pan," he yawned.

"Morning Trunks," she said, not moving the phone, "There's some eggs I cooked in an omelet left over if you want that." He nodded to her and made her way over to the stove where he saw the omelet himself and began making himself a plate.

"Who's that?" Danielle asked. Pan thought she hadn't heard or at least wouldn't have cared. She did talk in Japanese. But then again, Pan didn't really talk any Japanese around them.

"That's uh…" She remembered how Danielle had unintentionally rubbed it in her face that she had bad boy trouble and her friends had more boyfriends than she did. Her pride got the best of her and she couldn't stop herself before she rambled out. "That's my boyfriend."

Trunks at the time was searching through his refrigerator for something that wasn't expired when he heard what she sound and banged his head on the door. Ignoring the throbbing pain, he snapped to attention and gave her a look, but she didn't see it so he kept listening.

"A boyfriend? Why hadn't you said anything? Gee, I haven't seen you with a boyfriend since…actually I've never seen you with one. I've only known you for a couple of years."

Pan giggled, "Well, we hooked up in Japan and I brought him home for a few days." She noticed when Trunks walked into the room and crossed his arms over his bare chest. Her cheeks erupted in a blush.

"Well then you have to come now. Call me later so we can all hook up. Does he speak English?"

"Yeah he does, but I have to go. I'll talk to you later. Buh-bye." She hurriedly hung up, looking at Trunks as though she were the most innocent creature he knew, but he knew better.

He cocked his head at her. "What was all that about?"

She gave him a sheepish grin. "That was my friend, Danni. She was bragging about how she had a boyfriend."

"And you just decided to add me into this?"

Pan climbed off the couch, her shirt had moved up slightly uncovering her completely flat stomach and muscles. Trunks had to force himself not to stare. "I'm sorry, but she always puts it in my face that she gets all the guys and is so pretty. I felt a little jealous and, well…picked you to be my 'boyfriend'"—she quoted with her fingers—"So I wouldn't have to put up with lame excuse ideas for being cupid."

Trunks sighed and dropped his arms. "Alright, so when and where do you have to meet her?"

Pan looked at him as if she saw him wearing a dress. He rose an eyebrow at the accusing look. "You're agreeing?"

He shrugged, "Might as well. I'm leaving in a few days and you can pretend to have a long term relationship with me for awhile."

It took Pan a few minutes to recover from her shock that he had actually agreed. She nodded her head a few times as if she were on a remote before she spoke. "Yeah…and then we can say that we broke up because the long term wasn't working when I get a new boyfriend. Thanks so much, Trunks!" She ran up and hugged him and then ran off into the master bedroom to finish her phone call.

Trunks busied himself by adding more meat to his omelet and tried to push aside the feeling of his heart dropping to his knees when he heard her rub off their pretend relationship like nothing. It was nothing, he remembered. It was just a favor he was doing to help her. Nothing more. Still, it hurt. Almost like the time he realized that she wouldn't be coming back to Japan, but not as strong.

Then again…he had been wrong about that.

**……………………**

Pan shifted uncomfortable under Trunks' gaze. She had asked for his opinion and he said nothing but stared. If he didn't like her attire then he could say something, not just wait for her to see her flaw.

They had been invited to dinner and Pan had slipped inside a black skirt and red sleeveless silk shirt that she used for such occasions. They were told to dress nice, so they did. When she asked how she looked, he turned around and just stared. Not because he didn't like what he saw, definitely not that, she just looked very good. Her skirt and shirt hugged all her curves at the right places. She wore heels which made her legs seem longer. She had on light make-up and had plump red lips to go with her blouse. He had been tempted to kiss those lips to remind himself how soft they were.

He watched her shift under his gaze and realized she had expected an answer. He swallowed and put on a smile. "You look great, Panny."

She gave him a look and pouted her lips. "Took you long enough to answer."

He smiled and shook his head, watching her walk away to the bedroom—he couldn't help keep his eyes on her swaying hips, side to side—and then went back to the bathroom to continue his own grooming.

After awhile, they exited the apartment hunched under an umbrella as the rain poured and made their way to his car. They climbed inside and shivered as he started and pulled out of the parking structure.

"Brr, it's freezing out there!" Pan shivered.

"It is September now," he said as he turned on the ac.

She rubbed her arms. "I leave for two weeks and the seasons change on me."

"Do you want me to turn back and let you get a sweater?"

"No, I'm fine. I just hope the restaurant isn't freezing inside."

"Where are we going again?"

"The King Cole Bar."

"I've been there. It's pretty classy. On 55th street, right?"

"I think so. I've never been there before really."

They arrived after an hour of having to call Danielle and ask for directions. They pulled into a fancy bar and Trunks parked the car near the front. There were not many people since it was raining. They hurried inside and told the hostess their reservations and saw Danielle and Sui wave her over. She hurried herself and Trunks over to them.

"Pan we haven't seen you in weeks!" Danielle said as she hugged her friend, "And who is this sexy man?"

Pan smiled and wrapped an arm around Trunks' waist, signaling for him to be friendly. "This is Trunks Briefs."

Trunks wrapped an arm around Pan's shoulders and used the other one to shake their hands. "Darling, aren't you going to introduce them?"

Pan gave him a quick look, surprised that he had used a pet name. "Oh uh, this is Danielle, and this is Sui." She looked around and didn't see any of the guys. "Where are Randy and…" she searched her brain for Danielle's new boyfriend's name.

"Derek?" Danielle finished for her, "He and Randy are in the bathroom."

"Let's hurry up and sit down," Sui interjected, "I'm starving and I'm in the mood for some steak."

They all sat at one of the tables nearest the bar and ordered drinks and food. Randy and Derek had returned and Pan had to cough to as not to show surprise when she saw how very short Derek was. He was to Danielle's waist when she greeted him. She got the image of Eighteen and Krillin for a minute. Love comes in all sizes.

After a while of talk and a few glasses of scotch, Pan got asked a question she could not have prepared herself for.

"So Pan," Randy asked her with his thick Texan accent, "Did Sui ask you about our weddin' yet?"

Pan had been chewing on a tender piece of chicken when she heard this. Her muscles in her jaw spazzed and caused it to lodge in her throat. She tried to force it down, but it would not come loose and it burned against her throat.

"Randy, you idiot!" Sui cursed at him, "I haven't told her about anything yet!"

"Well, you told me that you would tell her!"

"I was going to, but I forgot!"

Trunks was watching Pan. She seemed to have trouble swallowing her food. Her eyes were watering and he watched the muscles in her neck. But there was no noise coming out of her. Then when she put her hands to her throat, his eyes widened.

"She's choking!" Trunks snapped at the couple who could not see Pan's conflict. He jumped up and wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her up out of her chair. Her face was red and her eyes were watery. Putting his fist at the base of her sternum, he pressed inward once and she let out a gag. Another push and she was coughing into her hand where she spit out the vile chicken piece that had tormented her into her hand.

"Pan, are you okay?" Danielle asked with concern.

Pan on the other hand was having a coughing fit. Her face was returning to its natural color, but she had to lean on Trunks to keep herself steady. After a few more seconds of coughing, she managed to croak out, "You guys are getting married?"

Sui blushed, one of the few times she did, and nodded. "It's very soon, we know, but we've kinda been dating longer than you guys think."

"How long?" Pan asked.

"Um…" Sui fidgeted under her gaze, "Since before his divorce with Ericka." Pan's jaw dropped. Trunks was confused, but he found out why it was such a big shock.

"You're the other woman?" Pan asked astonished. Randy seemed to be ignoring the conversation by just sipping his margarita.

"We're in love!" Sui defended.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Pan said as she hung halfway onto Trunks and halfway on the chair. "How can you two get married? That's…that's….the dumbest thing I ever heard!"

"How is it dumb?" Sui snapped, "He's divorced and we're meant to be."

"Sui, he cheated on his wife with you!" Pan nearly yelled. People began looking at them with sideways glances. "If you guys are so much in love, then why didn't he divorce her before she caught him?" Randy didn't seem to care that Pan was insulting him. "If he truly loved you, which I doubt, why did he not break it off with his wife before then?"

Sui was furious. Her cheeks were red and she seemed on the verge of tears. "How dare you say we're not in love when you don't know the first thing about love?!"

Pan seemed to be equally angry. "Because when someone loves someone, they don't use them! They don't hurt them! They don't…."

But whatever else they didn't do, no one knew. Pan looked up at Trunks with wide eyes. He looked back at her with a questioning look. Then her eyes instantly filled with tears and she looked like she was really going to be sick.

"I've…I've gotta go."

She pushed her chair in and then stormed off. Trunks went after her and called her, but that only made her walk faster. Running now and getting soaked, he caught up with her and forced her to turn around by her shoulder.

"Pan, what's going on?" he asked her.

Her face was stained with mascara running down her cheeks from her tears and the rain. She shook her head and then burst into tears. Trunks gathered her into his arms.

"I'm such a hypocrite!" she wailed against his shoulder.

"Shh," he hushed her as he rubbed her back, "Why do you say that?"

"Be-Because," she sniffed and looked up at him, "I've caused only pain and I love you guys. I was too afraid to come back, and you guys hate me for it."

"No one hates you. Now why don't I drive us back home?" he suggested as he motioned toward the parking lot.

Pan sniffed and nodded her head. He led her back to his car and got inside. They didn't talk at all on the way there. Trunks kept his eyes on the road and paid extra attention to the hobos on the street. Japan did not have so many homeless. To think, Pan could have been one of these if he had not forced her to stay with him. He knew how deep her pride meant.

What about her reaction in the bar? The way she stared at him as if she had been surprised to find what she was searching for. Could it be that…maybe she realized what she had done to him? But…she didn't know he was in love with her, did she? If so, then was that the reason she never came back? But she said she was afraid. Afraid of what?

A light sigh had thrown a cow in front of his train of thought and he gazed over at Pan and couldn't help but smile. Her head was propped up against the glass and her jaw was slightly open and her eyes were closed. She seemed to be in a heavy sleep because light snores were emitting from her and a trickle of drool was beginning to drip down from the corner of her mouth. She was definitely out of it.

He parked inside the parking garage and carried her in his arms bridal style to the condo with her head lying on his shoulder. He could feel the chill of drool run through the fabric, but he didn't care. He had a suspicion that she hadn't slept well for awhile.

When he was in the elevator, it picked up another traveler, this one being drunk. He stank of liquor and…oddly bologna. He looked at Trunks to Pan and back at Trunks before asking,

"How much she run for?"

Trunks glared at him. "She's not a hooker," he grumbled at him.

The man just shrugged his shoulders. "My mistake. I'm not the kinda person to tattle on someone using girls like her for their pleasures."

"I told you she's not a hooker," Trunks hissed again.

"I didn't say she was. I was talking about her being Chinese and all."

"She's Japanese."

"Oh, even better."

"And why's that?"

"Bitches like them run sideways, if ya know what I mean." He gave Trunks a sly glance.

Two minutes later, Trunks was seen stepping out of the elevator carrying a still sleeping Pan and leaving the drunk in the corner, unconscious with a huge knot on his head.

When he came to his own condo, he opened the door—which was a struggle since he tried not to wake up Pan—and crossed once more to the bedroom. It was okay if he slept on the couch for one more day. It wasn't like it was _uncomfortable. _He was afraid to change her, so he just tucked her in with her skirt and blouse on. She snuggled into the pillows and sighed with contentment. Trunks took a few minutes to watch her. He couldn't deny it, she was beautiful. He still felt for her. Whether he wanted to or not, he loved seeing her. Mostly her smile, which he hadn't seen for so long. Not since before she left for college. It was such a bright smile. He wanted to see her like that one…last…time….

There it was! The smile! She was smiling! In her sleep, she was smiling. It was a small smile, but it was a true smile. Whatever she was dreaming was making her happy, genuinely happy. That caused strange flutterings to happen in his chest. He wasn't sure what that meant. Probably just indigestion.

He moved over to catch one of the pieces of hair that fell in her face and tucked it back behind her ear. He wasn't sure, but she seemed to brighten her smile when he touched her. As he was about to leave, he felt her hand come over his. When he looked down at her, she then brought it closer to her breast, just keeping it there. Trunks' eyes softened and he kicked off his shoes and laid next to her. It wasn't like he anticipated sleeping on the couch.

After a few minutes, he realized that he was comfortable. Not because of the bed, but because of Pan. He felt warm when he laid next to her. He gathered her into his chest and held her, feeling the sensation of heat wash splash down into his gut; like drinking red wine. He sniffed her hair, savoring and getting drunk off her scent. Then he became dreary and fell asleep.

_(A/N): So, what do you guys think? I'm kind of going through slight writer's block, so any suggestions would really really help. I'll even give you credit if you like. Oh and no offense to my friends who I'm using to name Pan's friends characters; they are definately not like them. So, please read and review. Ja ne!_


	12. Hard Punches and Japanese Weddings

**Hard Punches and Japanese Styled Weddings**

Pan was still in the bath. Trunks waiting for her to get out so he could have a shower, too. It seemed that she was taking her time. Maybe she had a lot on her mind. She did scream when she saw they slept in the same bed.

"Gah! Don't tell me we did it again!" Pan had screamed.

Trunks wiggled a finger in his ear to stop the ringing she had caused. Then he gave her a look. "No, we did not do 'it' again."

"Then get out of my bed!"

Trunks wanted to tell her that it was, in fact, his bed, but she kicked him in the chin and caused him fly across the room and land on the other side. Then, still cursing him as he stood up, she ran to the bathroom after yelling at him not to follow her. Like he would…

And that's where he was now. He had to leave today. There were still clouds in the sky, but he had put off for too long. He had to get home and get back to work. He would allow her to stay in his condo until she wanted to either get a new place, or she could live there for however long she wanted; he wasn't going to come back to New York anytime soon.

Since it had been awhile since Pan had been in the tub, and the door was still closed, he assumed that she was either thinking, or she had drowned. He'd hate to ruin his already bad week by discovering a dead body, so he decided to stay put.

After another fifteen minutes, Pan came from the bedroom wearing baggy sweats and towel-drying her hair. "You still here?" she asked.

Trunks raised an eyebrow at her. "No, I'm an apparition."

She gave him a look. "Very funny. Shouldn't you head back to Japan soon?"

"I'm leaving today," he said as he stared back out the balcony, "I'm just trying to see the outcome of weather over the Pacific. I'm hoping these rain clouds won't come down until tomorrow, or will move more southeast."

Pan stood beside him, her damp hair making wet marks on her shirt. "You know, it's a lot easier to just watch the weather channel. They do an all globe forecast every eight minutes."

"I tried watching it," he said, "I just get confused. My English is not as well as it used to be."

"Not as good," Pan corrected.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing."

They sat in comfortable silence and stared at the storm clouds. Trunks was still ogling over which path to take, when a fork of lightning flashed followed by distant roll of thunder.

"That's it," Pan said, throwing her hands up, "You're staying."

Trunks looked back at her. "And who are you to say that?"

She huffed at him, putting her hands on her hips. "Look, if you go out in that storm, Dende knows what's gonna happen to you. It's too dangerous for a private plane. You're a business man, not a pilot. You're hardly a fighter as it is."

Pan knew she had hit a nerve because she saw the vein in his neck pulse more largely than usual. She refrained herself from swallowing when his eyes narrowed and darkened at her.

"Excuse me?" he said in a low and dark voice, "What does that mean? And who are you to talk, Miss Radio-personality?" He folded his arms and got a smug look on his face. "I bet you haven't even thrown a punch in years, afraid that you'd break a nail."

Pan grit her teeth and tightened up her fist. "You haven't trained in years, even since before I left. Hell, even Bra could probably kick your ass with her Tae-Bo."

"And Marron could probably out-do you, since she's been doing Yoga and is much more flexible."

Pan's eyes nearly grew red and she pulled her fist back and punched at him, but he caught it, only in the nick of time. By the look on her face, it was meant to be a punch that hurt. If he had not read that, he probably would've allowed the hit…probably. But she put her full force into it, so he had to catch it.

"You no good bastard!"

"What the hell's you're problem?"

"Hentai!" She threw a kick at him, and he barely had time to catch it with his other hand while still keeping his grip on her fist.

"What? How am I a pervert, you psycho?"

She let out a snarl that sounded like a near growl, and could have been by the animalistic gleam in her eye. "If you wanted Marron so badly, why the hell did you sleep with me?!"

"Wha"

He barely managed the question out when Pan cracked her head against his forehead so hard he could've sworn that his skull had broken. He fell back and landed on his rear on the balcony, his entire head pulsing and his vision unfocusing, but he still saw Pan pull back for another attack, but he got to her first. He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and pulled her down, slamming her into the ground on her back. Before she could even comprehend what had just happened, he was sitting on her hips with his knees pushing down on her wrists.

"Fucking Dende, Pan! That seriously hurt! What's your problem?" Trunks shot at her.

Then, he saw that the animalistic gleam was replaced by an angry, hurt expression with moist eyes. Her raven orbs were sparkling with near tears. This made him sit up a bit. Why was Pan almost crying?

"You're a heartless bastard, Trunks," Pan hissed through her teeth, "Why'd you have to go and do that?"

The lavender haired boy blinked. "Do what?"

She gave him a glare, but it wasn't working that well since the corners of her eyes were watering down. Then she turned her head away and decided that glaring at the stone wall was a better choice. "Just get off me."

"Not till you tell me what's wrong," he replied.

Pan didn't answer at first. She just stared at the wall while she blinked the tiny droplets of tears away from the corner of her eyes and let them fall into her hair and behind her ear. Trunks had a strange thought of what other tears fell behind the curve of her ear, but it was quickly cast away when Pan began to speak.

"Do you like me, Trunks?"

For a moment, Trunks was speechless. Did she know…about his crush years back? Did she know his feelings? For a second he felt high school come crashing down on him by the way his nerves were racked. As if his high school crush just found out he liked her, and he knew he was going to be turned down. And it was the exact same thing, albeit there was no high school.

He suddenly realized that he had said nothing and had only stared at her while she turned her eyes back to him. For the first time in a long time, he saw Panny again. It was not happy Panny or playful Panny, it was hurt Panny. The Panny that barely showed itself and when it did, her eyes spilled all her emotions and feelings like a visual diary. The only thing he could suddenly be aware of was his heart. His pulse was not quickening or slowing, but it seemed to be louder than before.

Then he swallowed the lump in his throat, and decided to take the plunge and risk the truth, however she may take it. But what exactly was the truth? Was it the same as before? He decided that this once, he would let his own intuition take over than his brain.

"Yes," he squeaked.

Pan closed her eyes and her lips twisted in a smile and she shook her head. When she opened them, they only shone sadness. "Why?"

Why? How could he answer that when had asked the same thing for three years? And that's what he said. "I don't know."

* * *

"Wake up, Pan."

Pan blinked her eyes at the waving hand in front of her face, then to her friend Danielle who had her head cocked to look at her. "Hm? Sorry, must've dozed off. What were you saying?"

"I was asking you about the bride's maid dresses," her friend told her as she pointed to the catalogue on the coffee table. "Do you want baby blue, or champagne?"

Pan stared down at the many pictures of pretty girls in long gowns, short gowns, frilly gowns, lace gowns, et cetera. They just weren't for her. Sui, more or less like Pan, did not like planning big events like wedding, whether it were her own or not, so she allowed Danielle and her to decide on matching bride's maid.

"I still can't believe I'm allowing myself to go to this wedding," Pan said as she shook her head, "It's way too early for them, and wrong."

Danielle frowned more at her. "Look, Sui wants this and she's our friend. And she loves Randy, so we should be there for her…"

"Yeah yeah, I know," Pan said with a wave of her hand, "Don't start going all mushy-mushy-romantic on me. I feel sick enough as it is."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "I just don't see how you can't be excited about something as beautiful as two people who love each other making a commitment. I mean sure, Randy has already been married once before, but Sui's a different woman. She can stand up for herself and keep him in check, and if you ask me I think that's what really…Pan!"

Pan jumped again. "What?"

"Stop spacing out!"

"I wasn't spacing out."

"Yes you were! Now we need to hurry and pick out some dresses."

Pan grumbled and looked back down at the two choices of dresses, deciding to get this over with. "I like the champagne."

Danielle smiled and lifted the picture up. "Good, because that's what we're getting."

The Japanese girl raised an eyebrow at her friend. "If you already picked that one, why'd you force me to choose?"

Danielle just smiled, "I had to make sure we agreed."

"And if we didn't?"

"We would stay here until we did."

Pan sighed. "I don't get you sometimes."

Danielle laid down on the opposite couch so her head was dropping off the side and her feet were touching the walls. "Speaking of weddings, what kind do Japanese people have?"

Pan set down her soda on the table that she just got done taking a large sip out of. "Hm. Well, Japanese people nowadays do a lot of weddings like Americans nowadays. But, if you're talking about the traditional weddings, usually they take place in a Shinko Shrine, or a temple of some kind." She had Danielle's attention now because the girl turned herself around, or the blood was starting to rush to her head. "It's basically like Americans'; there's a priest, a party, and a reception. But, when you actually make your vows, only close family are permitted. It's suppose to be for family only."

"Do you have to wear those fancy, silk dresses?" Danielle asked with all interest.

It took a while for Pan to research in her brain what 'fancy, silk dresses' were, until she made a vital match. "Kimono?" Danielle nodded her head. "Well, like I said, Japanese people adopted the English weddings, but, yes, in old time traditional weddings, the bride and groom would wear kimono; and no, kimono's are not dresses."

"Have you ever been to a traditional wedding before?"

"I wouldn't really call it a wedding. When I was twelve, my parents renewed their wedding vows with the traditional ceremony, but they got married the Christian way."

"So you're Christian?"

Pan wasn't quite sure what to answer that with. Truth be told, she, nor any of the other Z fighters were religious or worshipped any god; not even Dende, albeit he was the guardian of the Earth.

"My family doesn't revolve around religion." Pan wasn't comfortable talking about this anymore. Danielle was good friend, but she did not know whether or not she was biased on one's belief or not, so she changed the subject. "Why did you want to know about Japanese weddings?"

Danielle shrugged. "Just curious."

* * *

"Capsule Corp tower, this is Air-Jet 149," Trunks said into his headset as he approached his own home's landing base, "Requesting permission to land."

Of course he was not surprised to hear his own mother's voice. "Permission granted, 149, west lane is open and descent has been approved."

Controlling his steering, he steadied the craft and deployed the landing gear. Very carefully, he touched down on the runway and slowed down as he approached the terminal. After the brakes had stopped the tires and the craft remained motionless, Trunks looked out the window to see his sister waving happily at him from the top tower.

Even landing in Japan, in his old backyard, he still felt homesick.

_(A/N): Please don't hate me because this is so late! Gomen! Computer Crashed! I had to start this chapter all over. That's why it sucks. Sorry. Please review._


	13. Pong, Crack Heads, and Late Dates

**Pong, Crack Heads, and Late Dates**

Trunks' secretary smiled as she peered inside his office. His door was open and she could see him, staring at the computer screen as he fingers would move around the keypad, probably looking over what his mother had accomplished and checking her work while he was away on business. She couldn't see what was on the screen, only the side of his head, but the look of concentration told her that whatever he was doing, he was thinking hard on it. That's why he was the boss, because he was a hard worker.

She smiled with pride and looked back down at her desk, empty of the usual files and papers that needed work on them. Perhaps Trunks had taken care of everything. He was a magnificent boss, albeit he rarely socialized with his employees. Yet, he was still a great boss to work under. Without his great mind and hard-thinker attitude, where would they be now?

Her thoughts were cut off by the phone ringing. She took one last glance at her perfect boss, and then answered the phone with a "Capsule Corporation, Trunks Briefs Office."

_Okay, that's just too far, _Trunks thought to himself as he looked to the screen.

He knew his mother would make some changes to the computer, but now things had gone out of hand. First, upon turning on his computer to start the day, he spat coffee all down his favorite work shirt at the sight of his desktop being a picture of him at the age of seven, mooning the tv camera of the Fighting Tournament. Then, he found out that she had not only done her share of his work for those days, but had gone ahead and did the entire week's schedule, which he did not mind as much, and he saw that she had rearranged his files by date; whatever happened to good ol' alphabetical? His life ran by the ABC's. But it was the last one that set his day from boring, to boring and lightly annoyed.

She had beaten his top score at PONG.

In bold, were the letters, BIG MOMMA across the screen, above his name, Trunks B. She could do his work anytime, but did she really have to get into his games and personals? He thought not.

"Mr. Briefs?"

Trunks looked up to see his secretary in the doorway. He immediately minimized the PONG game. "Yes?"

"There's someone here from Callahan's to discuss the board meeting," she said.

Trunks nodded, ending the computer game and standing up, straightening his tie, "Where is he?"

"In the lobby, sir."

Trunks nodded in her direction and then walked out towards the elevator. He jabbed the first floor button and leaned against the wall when the doors closed. Everything was back to normal, again, but he had a feeling, just an inkle that something was going to happen.

* * *

Back in New York, Pan was spending the morning at a bridal Shoppe in Brooklyn, where Sui, Danielle, Danielle's friend Whitney, and herself were trying out different wedding gowns and bride's maid dresses. Pan had a suspicion about this Whitney girl. She looked like she had just gotten out of rehab, or should be put in rehab. She had short curly, wiry hair that looked like a dirty blonde. She was very skinny and there were scars on her face that she tried to cover up with makeup that was a few shades darker than her skin tone. And she was anorexic. She was just a bag of bones with sunken cheeks. When they had met up with her, Pan was afraid to touch her; she was a walking skeleton, and Pan was a granddaughter of a Saiyan. She had never seen an actual addict, but this woman seemed to reek of 'meth whore'.

"Pan, I like this one," Danielle said when she stepped out of the dressing room with a lilac dress with small purple flowers on the skirt and spaghetti straps going over her shoulders.

Pan cocked her head slightly, giving a look of uncertainty. "I dunno," she said, squinting her eyes a little. "It seems too teenager. Like, you're going to the prom or something."

"Oh, but it's so pretty," Danielle said as she twirled in front of the mirror. Pan had this sudden feeling of déjà vu when Marron and Bra took her out shopping.

"I thought we settled on champagne dresses," Pan said, flipping through the catalogue she had collected on wedding gowns.

"I know," Danielle pouted and she marched back into the dressing room to change.

"Guys," Sui said in her own dressing room, "I think I've found the one."

Danielle jumped away from her room like it was on fire and clapped her hands together. "Well come out. Let's see it!"

The door opened and walked out wearing an elegant silk and nylon white gown that bowed at the shoulders and trimmed off her waist to show her curves. There were no patterns, no fancy stitching, just plain. And it looked beautiful on her dark tanned skin. She gave a meek smile as she twirled in place.

"So," she said, "What do you think?"

"You look gorgeous," Pan said, smiling and nodding, "That is the one."

"Ooh, Sui!" Danielle walked over to her and threw her arms around her. "You look so beautiful! I can't believe it! My best friend is getting married!"

"You look so pretty, Sui," Whitney said with a slur, "You're gonna have such a beautiful wedding."

Sui smiled and beamed, "Thank you."

"Let's hurry and pay for the dress and go," Pan said as she stood up, "I still have to work on the invitation, the catering, finding a priest…"

"We've already got a church and pastor," Danielle cut in.

"Okay, that still leaves the decorations, the cake, the reception, the dj," Pan listed off the mental list she had created in her head, "The food and buffet, the seating arrangement. Not only that, but we still need to find matching bride's maid's gowns, and I need to find a new job, so we don't have much at all."

"Whitney and I will take care of the dresses and dj," Danielle said. Pan gave her a look of 'are you kidding'. "C'mon, we'll do fine. We'll get elegant champagne dresses that match, and I know plenty of places where we can hire djs. It will be fine."

"All right," Pan said hesitantly, "but remember to call if there's anything you need help of." _Or if you can't find a dress to fit Jack Skeleton over here._

Sui used her credit card to pay for the four hundred dollar dress and they came back to Pan's car, carefully put the bag with the dress on it on one of the hooks over the door, and then they got into her car; Pan driving, Sui beside her, eyeing her dress like a hawk, and Whitney and Danielle in the back.

"Where should we go next?" Pan asked as she pulled into the road.

"Let's go somewhere to eat," Sui said, rubbing her stomach, "I'm starving. Let's get seafood."

After debating which seafood place was the best, they decided and Pan drove them onto one of the highways towards it. They were talking and laughing and having a good time, when the sight of flashing red and blue lights and the sound of a siren sent panic into Pan and made her stomach curl.

"Shit, shit, shit," she cursed as she pulled over. The cop pulled over too.

"Okay everyone," Sui said, a little pale, "Just be calm. We're not in trouble."

But Pan wanted to cry. She had never been pulled over before and she was an immigrant. She was not sure of the court arranges if a non-American citizen was pulled over for speeding. But she remained calm and collected as she rolled down her window, shut off her car, and waited for the officer to come to her window.

"Do you know why I pulled you over?" he said in his authority tone.

"Because I was speeding," she answered truthfully and terrified as hell.

"I clocked you going sixty-five in a fifty zone," he said, "Did you know that was the speed limit?"

What was she supposed to say to that? "I-I thought it was fifty-five."

"The sign says fifty," he said, making her feel like a child, "Let's see your license and registration, please."

Pan fiddled with her wallet from her purse and produced her driver's license, her registration, and also her green card. He took it from her, eyeing the green card with suspicion.

"You an immigrant?"

"Yes sir," she said with her voice cracking.

"I'm gonna need you to step out of the car, please."

That was not a good sign. It never was a good sign. She slowly stepped out and she walked to the front of the patrol car.

"Where you from," he glanced at her driver's license, "Panson, is it?"

"Pan Son," she corrected, "I'm from Japan."

"And how long have you been an immigrant to the United States?"

"About five years," she answered.

"Have you ever been in trouble with the law, Miss Son?"

She shook her head. "No sir."

"Not even in Japan?"

"I've gotten one speeding ticket once," she answered truthfully. She doubted he'd be able to check her records from another country.

"Stay on the hood please," he said as he opened the door to his patrol car. She knew he was checking her records through her ID, seeing if she had any warrants for arrest or any unpaid tickets. She knew she was clean; not one ticket since she moved.

He finally came back with her license and green card. "I'm gonna let you off with a warning this time, since you don't have anything on your record." He handed her a slip of paper, "But remember to drive carefully. This road can be treacherous when you turn that corner."

"Will do officer," Pan said, "Thank you."

She walked back to her car, got in the driver's seat, and started the engine.

"How was it?" Sui asked.

"He just gave me a warning," Pan told her as she pulled back onto the road, driving like they had not been pulled over.

Whitney let out a loud sigh through his nose. "I'm just glad he didn't recognize me. Officer Rodriguez was the one who put my last warrant on me."

Pan suddenly slammed on her brakes, a very illegal thing to do. Everyone jerked forward roughly, their seatbelts knocking the air out of them. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any cars behind them when this happened.

"Pan, what the hell?" Danielle asked, rubbing the spot where she hit her head on Pan's seat.

Pan ignored her and twisted her body to look at Whitney. Her face was scrunched up in anger, her cheeks brightly lit red, and her dark chocolate eyes now as black as coal. A chill overcame the three.

"You have a warrant out for you?" Pan hissed between her teeth.

What little color Whitney had, drained. "I-I think so."

"You have a warrant?" Pan repeated, raising her voice, "And you didn't tell me?"

"Well, it's not something that I usually tell people about."

"When you're in my car you'll tell me!" Pan screamed.

"Pan, its okay," Sui said, "Nothing happened."

"But something could have happened!" Pan snapped at her before turning to yell back at Whitney, "What was the warrant for?"

Whitney somehow managed to find her courage and glared back. "I don't have to tell you anything!"

Pan was seething. Danielle and Sui glanced at each other panicked looks. When Pan spoke, she didn't yell, which was more terrifying than not yelling.

"Do you know what could have happened if I was caught with a felon?" she said each word slowly like she was talking to a mental person. "They could have charged me, charged us, as accomplices or something since we're with you. They could get out, but I would have to go to a hearing not to be deported!" Pan yelled at the last part. "I should kick you out right now and make you walk home!"

Sui reached out and laid a hand on Pan's shoulder. "Panny, be rash. Nothing happened. Let's just go."

A honk behind them reminded Pan that she was still in the middle of the road. She pressed the gas again and drove off, still fuming at the wheel.

* * *

The following day, Pan sent out a few applications and scheduled a few interviews over the next week and a half. When she took out her date-book to jot down the dates of the interview, she saw something in the previous month that caught her eye. On July 29, there was a red dot next to it, signaling a reminder that her monthly friend would come, and it did. She only forgot to put down her next date for the cycle to come. It had to be coming soon since August was almost over.

She counted inside her head as she touched each box on the paper with her finger. _One, two, three, _she counted, _twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight._

Something wasn't right. She must have missed counted. _One, two three...twenty-seven, twenty-eight._

Maybe she was miscounting in English. Maybe it would be accurate in Japanese.

_Ichi, ni, san...ninju-roku, ninju-shichi, ninju-hachi._

She counted another four times, and each time got the same result.

Her period should start on August 26.

Today was August 30.

_(A/N): Finally, I've updated. I'm gonna concentrate more on this story, but with work and school it's a little hard. Also, I probably miscounted in Japanese. If anyone would like to correct me, please. Thank you, and please review. Ja ne._


	14. Doctor, Doctor

**Doctor, Doctor**

Today did not feel like a good day. Trunks was contemplating whether or not to call in sick, or just not show up. Not to be egotistic, but he had people who could do his work _for_ him. He had woken up two hours early with a feeling in his gut that he had a bad dream, but he could not remember what the dream was. The sky was murky gray and the rain that fell made the mood gloomy.

Then a black crow smacked right into his window.

Trunks perked his eyebrows up. He usually was not one to believe in superstition, but that was just odd. Why would a bird be flying in the middle of a rainstorm and smack right into his window, which he just happened to be gazing out at right now.

That settled it.

He pulled off the cordless phone from the charger and dialed the office's number. It was picked up by his secretary on the second ring.

"Capsule Corporations," she said.

What was her name again? He couldn't remember. "This is Trunks Briefs," he said.

"Good morning, Mr. Briefs," she said, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm taking an off day for a family emergency," he said. He grabbed a back-scratcher that was on his nightstand and used for a particular itchy spot on the small of his back; ah, that felt good.

"Oh," she said, "I'm sorry to hear that. May I ask what the emergency is?"

Trunks paused. He didn't want to say something too harsh, because knowing her (except her name) she would probably give her best wishes to something she thought was the emergency, and he did not want to hear his mother complain to him about skipping work. No, he decided on something no one would usually check up on.

"My goldfish died." He knew she had stared at the phone with a strange look and blinked in confusion. "I have to go. Thank you."

He hung up and turned on the plasma television. It was a talk show and today's topic happened to be "Who's my baby's father?" Trunks groaned and rolled his eyes but could not look away. How ignorant were people to have random sex and not use protection? Some people were retarded. Luckily though Trunks was smart and knew to take all precautions.

Outside, it rained harder.

* * *

Pan had fought against ruthless enemies, punched countless bad guys in the face, spat on the most gruesome of foes, laughed at the biggest bullies, and taunted the most vicious warriors without batting an eye. She had always felt scared and nervous, but knew exactly how to approach the situation. Knew what to do, and if she was in danger, she had the Z fighters to help.

But, right now, she was terrified. And there was no one to help her.

What if…Those two words sent her brain into a spiral of bad thoughts. What if she was pregnant? What would she do? How would she take care of it? How would she tell her family?

How would she tell Trunks?

They were both ignorant and stupid to do what they did. This is what they get for being caught up in a moment of lust, putting down their defenses, and…well, Pan knew what happened later because later is what got her in the doctor's office in the first place.

Two other girls were also there. One was young, possibly only a teenager, and the other was a middle aged woman with a round belly. Pan suddenly felt nauseas as she pictured herself with that same belly.

The woman spotted Pan staring and smiled at her. "It's going to be a boy."

Pan blinked at her and tried on her best smile, trying not to focus on the taste of bile in her mouth. "Aww," she faked, "How long are you?"

"Almost nine months," she said with a large happy smile, "This will be my last check up before Junior here is born." She pat her hand over the swell of her belly.

Pan hoped she didn't look green in the face. "That's nice."

And even though she no longer wanted to talk about babies, the woman did not stop talking.

"We're going to name him Brett," she said.

"How cute," Pan managed to say.

"Are you with child, too?"

"No no," Pan quickly said. Would that be considered lying since she was here at her OBGYN's office to make sure she was not pregnant? No, until the doc said 'congratulations' it was not a lie. "Just a check up."

The woman smiled a wide grin. "You should think about having kids. It's the best in the world."

Pan laughed. It came out a little too sharp. "Yeah, I'll…think about it."

Pan saw the nurse as an angel to rescue her from the perils of Hell when she opened the door and announced, "Pan Son."

"That's me," Pan said, rising quickly. The nurse smiled and she followed her down the hallway.

"Change into these, please," she handed Pan a hospital gown, "And the doctor will see you soon."

Pan took the garments and changed in the bathroom, making sure not to show her butt as she walked down to the examination room the nurse left open for her.

As she waited on the table with the paper cover, she got to look at all the instruments they would use, the posters of STD and other disease warnings and insides of the woman's anatomy, and worst of all, the stages of pregnancy.

Pan suddenly felt another wave of nausea hit, hoping and wishing that it was not morning sickness.

* * *

The phone was ringing. Trunks did not know he had fallen asleep at all, but there he was on his bed, fully dressed, and with the his phone loudly buzzing beside him. He grunted and picked it up and squinted when he saw his mother's house number. Maybe she had found out her skipped and was calling to give him the third degree. Should he ignore it.

The phone rang angrily in his hand, the little red light flashing as a warning. Trunks continued to stare. He was an adult. He could do whatever he damn well pleased. So he took one day off, big deal. It's not like she never did.

It rang again.

And that's what he would tell her. That he was an adult and did not need his mother checking up on him. With that he nodded and clicked the 'talk' button when it rang again.

"Hello?" Trunks said in a tired, hoarse voice.

It was not his mother who spoke.

"I need you to get over here as soon as you can."

Trunks sat up right, his eyebrows wrinkled together. "Dad?" Why would Vegeta call him? He never did. And no 'brat'? Something bad had happened, something very bad.

"I need you to get over here as soon as you can. We need to have a family meeting."

Trunks felt his heart thump wildly in his chest. Panic was overcoming him like a snake in striking position. Something was very wrong. Something bad had happened. _Mom._

"Dad," Trunks said urgently, "What happened? Did something bad happen?"

"Get your sister. She's not answering her cell phone and I can't reach her at work."

"Is it Mom? Is she okay?"

"Just get your sister and get over here, okay?"

And the line went dead. Trunks stared ahead, at nothing as he dropped the phone. His father, the emotionless ice prince, had cracked his voice when he said this. Trunks suddenly felt cold. Something had happened to his mother and he was about to tell her off for babying him. And now, he did want her to baby him. He wanted her to tell him everything was going to be okay and he was the best son a mother could have. He wanted her to part his hair the way she did and get on his nerves. She wanted her to call and gripe at him for being lazy and not going to work.

He wanted his Mommy.

* * *

By the end of the day, she would probably overdose on Tylenol, Bra assumed. She was currently sitting in her leather chair at her office, and her desk was scattered with plans and documents of the new layout of the parking structure. On either side of her was a ruler, a compass, and a sketch pencil that she had just used only two minutes ago. In her palm right now though were two capsule-shaped pills and a glass of water in her other hand. She tilted her head back and swallowed the medicine. She had just taken two an hour ago, but her headache would not go away.

Bra took off her small oval shaped reading glasses and was in dire need to rub her eyes, but she did not want to smudge her make up, so instead she leaned her head back and closed them. Her chair was very comfortable. She could probably fall asleep right here. A little nap did not seem so bad. Just fifteen or thirty minutes.

Of course, life being unfair and bitchy, she was not allowed those fifteen minutes of much needed sleep.

Her door was being pounded on, the doorknob being jiggled since it was locked. Irritated and also anxious of the sudden need for the door beating, she called out, "Who is it?"

"It's Trunks! Open the goddamn door!"

It only took Bra two steps to reach the door and fling it open. Something was wrong. Her brother never showed up at her work, never nearly broke down her door to get to her (save for that one time in Junior High when he found out she had her boyfriend with her), and never did he curse at her.

When she flung the door opened, she saw he wasn't mad. He looked more sick than angry, but he did glare at her with frustration.

Before she could ask what was going on, he had grabbed her wrist and was pulling her away.

"Trunks, what the hell?" Bra clawed her manicured nails at Trunks' hand to try to get out of his super grip. "I can't just leave work!"

She dug her heels into the carpet of the office, her co-workers and employees giving strange looks at the bizarre sight, but Trunks kept dragging her away. Her one-hundred and ten pound body was no match for his two-hundred pounds of pure muscles.

It was better for her not to fight against him, her heels were already paying the price and she knew they would break when they got to the pavement of the parking lot. But even as she matched her brother's quick strides, he still had her wrist.

"Trunks," Bra said again, "What's going on? You're acting weird."

They reached his car and she managed to get herself strapped him before he did. He didn't look at her, but when he started the car, she could see that his hands were slightly shaking and his knuckles were white. When she looked at his face, he was blinking profusely; something that men did so they wouldn't cry.

Bra felt her heart jump into her throat. She reached over and touched her brother's shoulder. Her first immediate thoughts were something either happened to Pan, her mother, or Goten for him to behave in such a strange manner. If it had been anyone else, he would have come and said it, but it seemed the last the he wanted to do was tell her about this.

Trunks' eyes were getting slightly swollen and red, but no liquids fell because he kept blinking them away. He swallowed loudly, his Adam's apple bouncing in his throat.

"Dad called me," he said in a hoarse voice, "He wants us over there immediately."

Bra's eyes widened. _Mom._ "What's wrong?"

Trunks shook his head. "He didn't tell me. He just told me to get you and get over there."

Bra put her face in her hands, this time not caring that she was smudging her make up.

* * *

Did the doctor fall asleep or something? Surely it did not take ten minutes for a pregnancy test. The simple ones at the drug store only took two. But Pan did not trust those ever since college when her friend took one, said it was negative, only to be told by her gyno that she was indeed pollinated.

Pan still laid on the paper covered bed and still wore the hospital gown. She kept her eyes concentrated on the floor and not on the 'Ready to Be Mommy?' posters on the wall. She had counted the clean squares on the floor to pass the time. When she had reached thirty, the doctor came in with a file in one hand, and a large smile on his face.

Pan had a feeling her color had drained.

"Congratulations," the doctor said.

They were going to have to send her to the ER by the way her heart was racing. This could not be happening.

"You're life's not over," he said. Pan remained completely still, not sure what he had meant. "You're not pregnant," he confirmed.

There was a pause where Pan felt a wave of relief, but still a nag of worry. "Then…why haven't I had my cycle yet?"

The doctor looked at his charts. "Well, we've done some tests and everything seems to be fine. I'm thinking that it's just your uterus isn't ready yet. Do you usually bleed heavily?"

Pan nodded, "Usually at the beginning."

"Yes, that can sometimes make you a few days late." He closed the manila folder. "If you like I can prescribe a drug that can hurry the process up and if you don't have your period in the next three days you can come and see me and we'll work something out. In the meantime, I see nothing wrong with you."

Pan let out a breath she did not know she was holding. "So, nothing wrong with me?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Thank you Dr. Stephens." Pan stood up, covering up her backside.

"I'll leave you here to change." With a last smile, he left and closed the door behind him.

Pan changed quickly, no longer intimidated by the posters of pregnancy and motherhood. After she dressed, she filled out one last paper and left in a hurry. She felt like she lost ten pounds that was the weight of worry on her shoulders. As she drove to the condo, she sang along with the radio very out of tune, feeling carefree.

And then one phone call reminded her that she could not be happy and that it was not safe to experience relief. That she was forever cursed to deal with pain.

Her cell phone let out a jingle. She flipped it open and saw a long number she immediately knew was from Japan. She flipped it open, pressing it to her ear.

"This is a long distance phone call from…" said the computer, then a masculine voice came on, "Goten", and the computer voice came back on, "If you accept, press one, if not, press…"

Pan pressed one. "Hello?"

"Pan?"

"This is she. Goten?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Pan noted the tiredness in his voice. "Is something wrong?"

"We need you to come home. Soon."

"Why? Did something happen?"

What Goten said next would haunt her the rest of the day.

"Bulma's been diagnosed with breast cancer."

And that's when her happy façade came tumbling down. She suddenly felt suffocated in her car, feeling very small and weak. And all she could say was, "Oh Dende." Her chest squeezed in sympathy for Vegeta, Trunks, Bra, and especially Bulma.

"I really think you should be here," her uncle seemed eager for her to accept.

"I don't know if I can," she said, feeling like she was scum with each word, "I'm completely broke and unemployed right now. Goten, I'm sorry."

"I'll pay for your ticket," Goten said quickly, "Just please come home. You can pay me back later."

Pan felt awful, and tears were filling her vision, making the road blurry, but she nodded her head. "Okay."

"Just pick it up at the airport tomorrow morning."

"Okay."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Pan shut her phone, sobbing every two minutes and rubbing her eyes as she sped off to the condo to pack what very little she had.

_Please Dende. Let Bulma be okay. Let her be okay._

_(A/N): Ha ha, I bet you thought Pan would be pregnant. I didn't want this to be one of those fics where she gets pregnant and she and Trunks fall in love in order to take care of the baby. Well, sadly, Bulma has been diagnosed with cancer. The drama begins next chapter. Stay tuned. Ja ne. _


	15. Men Did Not Cry

**Men Did Not Cry**

It wasn't until two in the morning that Goten called and told her that her ticket was waiting at the airport; of course, it was the afternoon in his time. Pan had not slept at all since she had gotten the phone call. She packed only two suitcases, one of clothes, and the other of toiletries. She felt like she was in a stupor state, a bubble more like. It seemed like everything was happening too fast and she could not keep up with it.

She had managed to take a cold shower and brush her teeth, and to keep her preoccupied while she waited for her uncle's phone call, she called her friends and told them she would be gone for a few weeks due to a family emergency.

"The wedding's in two weeks!" Sui croaked sleepily; Pan had woken her up at one in the morning.

"I know, but I can't avoid this," Pan said in a hurry as she stuffed clothes in a bag, not even folding them. "We've already done most of the work, Danielle could probably handle the rest."

"Couldn't this wait until after?"

Pan-the-smartass came in. "Oh sure, everyone can delay cancer. I'll just tell her I can't come in and to wait to be treated until I get back. I'm sure she won't mind."

Sui let out a sigh. "I didn't mean it like that, Pan."

"Well, I'm going either way," Pan stuffed a pair of tennis shoes and slippers into the bag. "I'll probably miss your wedding, but I'll send you my wedding gift through airmail. Be on the lookout for it."

"I wanted you to be my bride's maid."

"Danielle can be your bride's maid."

Sui let out a sigh like a spoiled child trying to get her way. "Fine. Have fun in Japan."

The spite in her voice did not go unnoticed by Pan. "Yeah, I'll have a splendid time over there."

She hung up and slammed the phone down on the receiver. Perhaps she should send Sui and Randall a curse in a box. She could tell them that it's Japanese tradition to send newlyweds a dead bird in a box.

When Goten called her and told her everything was set, she hurried out the door and called for a cab. It was a much shorter drive to the airport than she anticipated. It felt like only a minute before the cab driver pulled over and wished her a good flight.

Inside she approached the counter and told them she had a ticket waited for her.

"Oh yes," said the teller lady, "One international flight to Tokyo, non-stop, first class."

Pan blinked. "First class?"

The woman flashed her brilliant teeth and nodded. "Says here first class. You're name is Pan Son, right?"

Pan nodded. "Yes, I am."

"The next flight isn't for another two hours. You can wait here if you like."

Pan nodded and sat down at one of the chairs. Very little people were there, and those people were snoozing with their jackets over their faces. Pan on the other hand, could not sleep at all. She had taken her time to flip through a fashion magazine, not paying attention to the pictures.

Finally, the teller-lady called out: "Flight 146 to Tokyo, Japan is now boarding."

* * *

_Trunks had set up a makeshift ramp in the middle of the road by laying a piece of wood across a concrete block. Goten and the boys from the neighborhood, named Daisuke and Souta, were on bikes, waiting for the ramp to be finished. When Trunks aligned it just right, he stepped back._

_"Okay, who's going first?" Trunks called out._

_"I'll do it," said Souta, flexing his skinny arms like they were made of muscle, "That looks easy."_

_He leaned up on his bike, pumped his feet into the pedals as fast as he could, and zoomed towards the ramp. When his front tire move up the wood, he jerked up his handle bars and the bike jumped and landed on the road with a creak of the rusty metals of the bike. The boys whooped and hollered because this was the closest thing to Motocross._

_They all took turns jumping the ramp, making funny noises and hollering, even pretending they were apart of a televised competition._

_"And next up is Goten Son," announced Trunks the newscaster, "Can he beat Trunks Briefs record? Probably not since Trunks is the coolest, most awesomest man around."_

_"Oh shut it dude!" Goten said to his friend in a joking manner, "I'm gonna try to do a flip like we saw that guy do on TV."_

_"You can't flip," said Daisuke, pushing his glasses closer to his face, "That guy was on a motorbike and he was older."_

_"So what?" Goten said to him, "Just watch me."_

_So Goten rode forward as fast as he could. When he got to the ramp and jumped, he chickened out at the last second and landed normally._

_"I thought you were gonna jump!" shouted Souta._

_Goten glared, but his round face made it look like a pout. "I wasn't fast enough. If you think you're so tough, you try!"_

_Souta snorted and began riding, his rusty bike making squeaking noises as he did so. He jumped, and landed normally also. The other three boys laughed at him._

_"Shut up!" Souta yelled, "My bike's too heavy! Why don't you try it, Daisuke?"_

_Daisuke shook his head. "Not me, man. I'll fall flat on my face."_

_"Chicken." Souta then turned his pudgy eyes to Trunks. "Then how about you?"_

_"Me?" Trunks asked._

_"Am I lookin' at anyone else?" Souta snorted again, "Yeah, tough guy, let's see you try it."_

_Trunks puffed out his chest. "All right. Watch this."_

_He peddled onward and jerked his handlebars up at the jump as hard as he could._

_And he flipped._

_But he did not land._

_Instead, he fell on his back, bounced on his side, his arm caught in the metal of the bike, and the bike flew away, dragging his arm and crushing it with a loud and sickening crack and twisting it in an unnatural position. Pain shot through his entire body and he screamed in agony._

_The other three boys rushed over._

_"Oh Dende," Goten said, trying to swallow his fear, "Trunks, are you okay?"_

_Tears of pain poured down his cheeks as he screamed. "Waaah!"_

_"Get some leaves!" yelled Souta, the nine-year-old paramedic._

_"You gotta go get his mom!" Daisuke said to Goten. _

_Goten turned pale. Trunk's house was just down the street, but no one wanted to be the bearer of bad news._

_"Mommy!" Trunks cried out._

_Goten scrambled to his feet and took off down the street at great speed and practically busted down the door and ran into the living room of the Brief's family home. Bulma and Vegeta were sitting on the couch, watching television, but now were looking at Goten who was panting for breath._

_"Oh, uh…hey," Goten said, raising his hand in greeting, "Just, uh, came here to say hello at, uh, full speed."_

_Bulma sat up. "Goten, is everything all right?"_

_"What? Oh yeah, everything's fine," he said, swallowing, "But uh…Oh, you know Trunks?" Bulma and Vegeta gave him a 'nah duh' look. "Yeah, okay. Well, you know how his arm would usually bend," he lifted his arm up and bent it at the elbow, "like this? Yeah, it's not bending that way anymore."_

_"What?" Bulma's eyes widened and she came halfway off the couch._

_"Yeah, and he's fine, but uh…we were thinking if you weren't doing anything later, maybe you could take him to the hospital." Goten shrugged._

_Bulma dashed out of the house with Goten at her heels. As if she had injured-son radar, she immediately found the crash site and Trunks on the ground, arm broken and scratched by the bike chain._

_"Trunks!" she cried._

_"Ow! Momma!" Trunks cried in agony, his face wet with tears and mucous._

_"It's okay, we got some leaves on it," said Souta._

_"It's okay, baby, Mommy's got you," Bulma carefully removed Trunk's arm, cradling it and him gently, "I'm taking him to the hospital. You boys put that up and don't let me catch you playing with something that dangerous again!"_

* * *

Twenty-seven years later, Trunks sat at his mother's kitchen table, running his index finger over the white three inch scar caused by that memory. It was very tiny and hardly noticeable, but told a story of a time when his arm broke in spiral twist and was forced to wear an itchy plaster cast for eight weeks. He remembered how he knew his mother would fix him, make the pain go away. She always did. His dad was Superman, and she was Wonder woman.

But now, he turned in his seat to look at his mother who hummed a song and cut pieces of chicken, he could finally see that she wasn't super. She was a normal, frail woman. He had always imagined her there, never gone. Now, he could not stop thinking of what life would be like without her. He could not help but remind himself that she was now old. In fact, she had at least ten years on Chi-Chi who had died so young.

He did want to dwell on thoughts of his mother's death. Bra could not contain herself and had excused herself to her old room to fix her makeup. His eyes locked on her back, imagining her body tiny and bony, scrawny with malnutrition and sickly looking, hooked up to tubes and wires and an EKG beeping with every heart beat.

But Bulma was stronger than Trunks. She was the one with the lethal cancer, and here she was smiling and humming. She was the one who cracked the jokes to break the tension. It was she who was the fighter, not they.

Trunks tore his eyes away to the table, looking at the polished oak. Many dinners had been served here. This table knew of all the arguments he had between his sister, of the bickering of his parents, of the jokes between friends, and of happy memories of holiday meals. Why had he not appreciated all this before? Why now did he love and truly know what good he had when they had to now fight and hope to keep it?

Why was life cruel?

Men did not cry, so Trunks turned his head to look at the kitchen doorway, only to be surprised when he saw his father leaned against it, head resting on the wall and eyes on his wife, never leaving. His black eyes were watery.

What would Vegeta do if the worst should come? Would he stay here or move away, perhaps traveling space? He did not know. But as he watched his father watch his mother, he knew for sure, no matter their history and their constant bickering and he calling her "woman", no matter the lack of an actual marriage and warm coziness, he knew that his father loved his mother.

You just never know what you got till you're about to lose it.

"I'll be outside," Vegeta said softly in his low voice as he moved away from his spot. Trunks knew this was Vegeta language for "I'll always be here if you need me".

"Okay dear," Bulma said, "Dinner will be ready in forty-five minutes."

She dipped the chicken in a skillet that was full of grease and it sizzled and popped. Bra finally came downstairs, wearing new eye makeup.

"Hey Mom, need any help?" she asked.

Bulma smiled at her, "Actually dear, will you help me make the stew?"

"Sure." Daughter bounced next to mother and the two began having a lovely mother-daughter moment. Trunks, feeling a little out of place, stood up.

"I'm going to go outside," he said.

"Okay honey," Bulma said, smiling brightly at him, "If you see your father, tell him I want him to clean out the gutters by Friday, okay?"

Trunks nodded and smiled. "Will do."

He went out the backdoor to the backyard. Immediately he spotted his father, sitting on one of the concrete patio tables. He had a rock in his hand that he would toss and catch. Vegeta sensed his son behind him, but did not turn back to acknowledge him.

"I'm not a very good husband," Vegeta said suddenly, tossing and catching the rock, "Or a good father."

Trunks blinked. "What do you mean?"

Vegeta did not answer at first, but played one round of catch with himself. "Not once did I ever tell your mother my feelings. 'Feelings are useless' my father had said." Toss. Catch. "And now I feel worse because I never let her know how much she meant to me. And she never asked. Because she knew."

Trunks looked down at his feet, taking in a deep breath.

"When she told me she was pregnant, she was so happy. We were not married, not really dating either, and no one knew of our relationship, yet she was always happy." Vegeta let out a long breath through his nose. "The first time she told me she loved me," he closed his eyes for a second and shook his head slightly, "I said 'whatever'."

Trunks felt a pressure behind his nasal cavity, fighting the moisture in his eyes as he watched his father talk of his inner turmoil. He felt his throat tighten.

"What I wouldn't give to go back those years and say the right thing."

Men did not cry, so Trunks decided that for today, he would be a little boy.

* * *

That night, Vegeta sat on the edge of the bed in his t-shirt and pajama pants as he watched his wife brush her gray and blue hair the one hundred strokes she did every night and apply moisturizer to her face.

"The doctor said I'll start chemo next week," she said, "And it's not the worst kind, either so that's good." She was talking about the cancer then.

Vegeta let out a grunt. He remembered how he would roll his eyes and daze off when commercials for 'Breast Cancer Walk-a-thon" came on. Now he wished he actually appreciated it; he would never actually attend one, but he could at least not mock it.

"Everything okay, honey?" Bulma asked as she sat next to him.

He nodded and moved to his side of the bed. The two slipped under the covers and he snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her towards him. Bulma got comfortable and was just seconds away from slipping into sleep when she heard words she never expected to be verbally heard from the Great Saiyan Prince.

"I love you."

_(A/N): Aww! Doesn't that make you warm and fuzzy? I bet you guys are surprised that this came earlier than the usual six months. Like I said, I'm concentrating on only this story. This chapter is to show of how wonderful and important Bulma is. Also, the memory of nine-year-old Trunks came to me while I was listening to stand up comedian, Brian Regan. I hope you enjoyed. Ja ne. _


	16. We Meet Again

**We Meet Again**

"Ma'am." Someone was shaking Pan's shoulder, "Ma'am?"

Pan suddenly jolted, looking at the strange woman she had never seen before. Who was she? She was pretty with her strawberry blond hair and bright toothy grin.

"Ma'am, we're getting ready to land," the woman said. Pan now remembered she was the flight attendant and she was on a plane. "We need you to fasten your seatbelt."

"Y-Yes, of course." Pan fastened herself in. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, still feeling groggy and drowsy. It seemed that her sleep-deprived body was unwilling to awake itself.

An hour later, Pan was among the crowd, checking to see where her luggage was. When she spotted her suitcase, she pulled it away and walked off. It was very late, three in the morning here in Japan. She was about to find a payphone and call for a hotel and then Goten, but she saw him seated in one of the many empty chairs.

He looked just as tired as she felt, and sure she looked the same.

Goten slowly stood up and she saw that he was in uniform. Black shirt with a bullet proof vest built in the chest and back, a radio strapped to his shoulder, a gold badge with the words "Tokyo Law Enforcement" embedded in it. His pants were made of the same material as his shirt. On his belt he had a gun in holster, Pan doubted he ever needed or wanted to take it out, a mace can and handcuffs on the other side, and a flashlight next to those.

It was odd, seeing him in police-mode.

"You don't mind if we take the cruiser, do you?" he asked.

She smiled meekly at him. "I don't have to be in the back, do I?"

He smiled, too, his laugh lines showing. "Only if you change the radio."

He led her out onto the parking lot. Although there were hardly any people there, the parking lot was oddly full of cars; Pan never understood that.

"So when did you become a policeman?" she asked.

"Two years ago," he said, "I'm moving up to SWAT next month."

"Weird," she said as they approached the cruiser, "I didn't know Japan had a SWAT team."

"Some of our criminals have been influenced by America, specifically New York." He gave a witty look and she rolled her eyes.

He put her suitcase in the trunk, Pan wondered if he had a large rifle or shotgun in the back, and then moved to the driver's side. Pan felt odd being inside a police vehicle. There was so many buttons in there and she was afraid, yet also tempted, to press one. His radio did the occasional cackle and someone spoke cop-talk before it cackled again. Either Goten was ignoring it, or it was not to his interest.

"I have night-watch this week," he said, "So I have to drop you off at the house and leave. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, not at all," she said, still staring out into night Tokyo.

"You can sleep on the couch or in Mom's old room."

"Okay."

They sat in comfortable silence as he drove. Tokyo looked a lot like Vegas until they got to the country where it was miles of trees. He pulled into a dirt and gravel driveway and stopped the car.

"Here's the key," he said, handing out a copy of one of his own, "Lock up when you get inside. Do you want me to help with your bags?"

Pan smiled, "Oh yes, because that one very heavy suitcase is so hard for my Z-fighter arms." Goten rolled his eyes but there was a smile on his lips.

Pan got her bag, no guns in the trunk, and walked to the front door. Goten stayed in his car, watching her until she got inside before driving off to do his duty.

Inside it was nearly just like before. There was more manly stuff like beer and magazines and a large plasma television, but other than that, pictures and family portraits still dominated the walls and everything was clean; not many people saw this, but Goten was actually a very neat person.

It was only one story long. The room to the right of the kitchen was Goten's room, and the one that was next to the living room was Grandma Chi-Chi's old room. Pan walked to that room.

It, too, was very neat. The bed was only a twin size and looked slightly stiff. It was not Chi-Chi's old bed; her old bed had to be sold. But the quilts were. There was a long dresser against the wall, a desk under the window, a door to the bathroom, and a night table next to the bed. And on each piece of furniture were family portraits. Chi-Chi was always a craft at photography.

Pan sat her bag on the bed and took out a comfy pair of sweats to sleep in. She changed and then went to the kitchen to fix something to eat. She was not disappointed when she opened the fridge. Goten knew how to stock up.

She made herself a sandwich, chips, a pickle, and a soft drink and watched some Japanese soap operas.

* * *

Pan slept in her grandmother's room when she heard a clink of dishes coming from the kitchen. It was daylight outside and had to be in the afternoon. She heard the sound of running water from the faucet and more clinking of dishes. 

Goten must be home.

She pulled herself over the side of the bed and grabbed her robe and put it on. If Goten was here, she could ask him what he wanted for dinner and she could make it after him being at work all night.

She walked down the hall and stopped when she had a good view of the kitchen. She also got a good view of someone who was definitely not Goten; unless Goten had round hips, a skinny waist, and liked to wear khaki skirts with pumps on his feet.

Pan crossed her arms and called out in a stern voice, "Can I help you?"

"Waah!"

The woman whipped away from the sink and stared at Pan. Pan saw blood hair, blue eyes, and a white blouse with a few water stains.

Marron had her hand over her chest. "Dende Pan! What the hell are you doing here?" Marron looked like she had been scared to death. Her face was pale, eyes wide, and she was breathing hard.

Pan lifted her eyebrows and smiled. "I should be asking you that." She uncrossed her arms. "I came after I heard about Bulma." She walked over and sat at the round kitchen table. "How's she doing."

"Better," Marron said, straightening her skirt, "She's taking it much better than Trunks and Bra, that's for sure. And Vegeta's been a little clingy to her also."

Pan put her hands together and looked at the pile of dishes that Marron was rinsing off. She had not noticed until then that Goten had installed a dishwasher. When they were little, Chi-Chi would always make them wash the dishes before they had dessert and after. Even though it was new, it still seemed to fit the house.

"So, what have you been up to?" Marron asked, breaking the comfortable silence; it must be uncomfortable to Marron not to talk.

Pan looked back at her, then down at the table and shrugged. "Same old. My friend is getting married, and I have to miss it."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, that's another reason I'm here. I hate weddings." Pan rubbed her thumb over her knuckles of her left hand. "And when I get back I'm going to be desperate for a job. I might get one here to help out. I don't want to keep mooching off of Goten, and it'd give me something to do."

"But about your radio job in New York?"

"Did I not tell you about that?"

"No."

"Hm." Pan looked at her like it was the most simple thing to figure out, and she rolled it off nonchalantly. "They laid a few people off for renovations and I was one of them."

The hurt look that Marron always had when she pitied someone came across her face. Her marvelous blue eyes softened and the corner's of her mouth dipped downward in a frown.

"Oh honey," Marron said, reaching over and grasping one of Pan's hands in her cool grasp, "I'm sorry. It'll get better." Then she let it go and leaned back to her normal posture; Pan felt a stab of envious at her. She always sat up so straight and lean. "Maybe you should get a job here. We're all busy through the day, so, like you said, it'd give you something to do."

Pan nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll do that. Do you know any places that are hiring?"

"Oh, at the office! We need someone to…"

"I'm not working with a friend," Pan interjected, "I feel so weird when I do."

Marron had on her hurt face. "But what about that time you worked with Trunks over the summer?"

Pan groaned. "I was sixteen and I hated it there."

"I thought you liked it? Didn't Trunks treat you well?"

"It's not that he didn't treat me well. It's he _did _treat me well." Pan put her cheek in her hand. "The girls there hated me. Thought I was his little sex toy or something. They tripped me so many times and would never do as I said, and gave me these glares that just said 'I want you to die, right now'."

Marron was laughing her giggling, care-free laugh. And even though she envied that laugh, Pan couldn't help but laugh along. That was Marron's superpower.

"But that's working for Trunks," Marron said, "You won't be beaten up or anything 'cause you won't be working for him, and you won't even be working for me."

Pan shrugged one shoulder. "I'll think about it. I really need a job that I can quit easily without any hassle when I fly back."

Marron smiled, but there was still that gleam of sad as she did. "You're not leaving so soon, are you?"

Pan shook her head. "Not until I make sure that Bulma and Vegeta and Bra are okay. And Trunks, too." She hesitated on naming him.

Marron's smile did not falter, but her eyes were happy now. "I'm sure Trunks would love to see you again."

Pan tried to return the smile. "Me, too. I just don't know how to approach them. Bra will be easy. Vegeta won't care too much, but I really missed him. And Bulma, dear Dende, I have to make sure she doesn't think of something stupid like throw a party."

Marron laughed. "Have you told your parents you're here?"

Pan's face went grave.

Marron's beautiful, shiny face suddenly turned stone with stern.

"Pan!"

"I'm going to see them first!"

"You better! I would be so mad if my daughter didn't come see me! You better hope Videl doesn't put the wooden spoon to you!"

"Goten's probably already told them," Pan pleaded, "I'll see them later."

Marron surprised Pan by suddenly jumping up, her chair scooting away. "You'll go see them now, young lady."

"I'm not a child, Marron."

Pan and Marron locked in a stare down. Neither backing out.

* * *

"Hi Mommy!" Pan's arms wrapped around Videl's shoulders and her mother did the same with her. Damn Marron. 

"Oh Pan honey, I'm so glad you're here," Videl said as she pulled away, "I tried calling, but I couldn't get through. Is you're phone dead?"

"Probably." She looked over at the father who stood a little behind Videl. "Daddy!"

A huge Son grin cracked over his face. "Hey, Panny." He embraced his daughter in his big arms and kissed her forehead. "How was the flight?"

"Boring, like always," Pan said, smiling widely and rolling her eyes.

"I'm so glad you came," Videl said again, "We all really need everyone here during this time."

"I came as soon as I heard the news," Pan said, "Goten sent me a ticket and I hopped on the nearest plane."

"Goten got you a ticket?" Gohan repeated. "Then that's why he asked Trunks to borrow money."

If this was a movie, it would be this exact moment where you would hear the record scratch.

Where had this come from?

"Goten what?" Pan repeated, trying to not let the throb in her chest become noticed.

"Yes," Gohan said, "Goten was running a little low and Trunks owed him some favor a few years back so he paid Goten a few bucks. It must've been for your plane ticket."

The hamster in the wheel must be on a coffee break because nothing was adding up in her head. It all seemed to have gone through her ears without registering.

"You must want to thank him," Videl said happily, moving aside to allow her daughter in the house, "Trunks is here. He's in the kitchen with Uub."

Pan couldn't stop herself from dropping her jaw. "Tr-Trunks is here?"

"Yes, dear."

To her pleasure, her phone jingled. She yanked it out of her purse and flipped it open. "Oh, actually I should probably leave. I've got some stuff to do. Its my friend's wedding back in New York and I told her to call me if she had any questions."

"Oh I don't see why you can't hang out and talk to your friend here."

Pan slowly looked to see Trunks standing in the doorway now wearing jeans and a green t-shirt. His hair was sticking to his forehead that was beaded with sweat. He was smiling at Pan, his sapphire eyes shining and his smile dazzling.

"Its nice to see you again, Pan," he said.

Pan smiled. "Nice to see you, too, Trunks."

Gohan and Videl looked back and forth between each other and then their daughter and Trunks. Something was obviously up.

Although they were smiling, they could basically see other messages hidden underneath their gazes.

Pan could see in Trunks' softened gaze, _Enjoy first class?_

To which, Trunks could see the reply as, _Bite me, boxerboy._

She had seen him raise his eyebrows once, smile sneering into a smirk and his eyes becoming a darker shade of blue. No, she must have misinterpreted the message. But her cheeks still grew rosy and she suddenly became very aware that he his shirt showed him off greatly, but she shook that from her head.

_I plan to._

_(A/N): Damn, I'm so sorry this is late. Gawd, I hate this chapter so much I want to burn it. Sorry about this. Hopefully my later chapters will be worth reading. Ja ne. _


	17. Everything Will Be Okay

**Everything Will Be Okay**

"I hate you, you know that, right?" Pan said, glaring daggers at Trunks.

The smile never left Trunks' face. "Oh, I know you do. That's what makes this so fun."

"I'm going to get you, boxer boy," Pan threatened, "And when I do, you're going to be sorry. I already have a plan scheming right now."

"I'll be on the lookout for it."

Pan and Trunks were riding in his car, Trunks was driving. After having dinner at the Son residence, Pan and her mother discussed Bulma. Pan had made the comment about wanting to see her when Trunks had to do the gentleman thing and offer a ride to Capsule Corp. Pan tried to hint that it was not needed but with Trunks' persisting and Videl's strange mothering aura that always overpowered her, here she was right next to the man she would to knock the teeth out of in a cramped company car, headed out to see his mother.

Pan pouted the entire time there, refusing to talk to Trunks and just stared out the window. They pulled into the driveway and got out, Pan slamming her door a little harder than necessary.

"You came here to see her anyway, didn't you?" Trunks asked as the walked up the sidewalk.

Pan glared at him. "I did, but I was going to see her on my own time. I didn't need you to butt in."

"I know how you are Pan," he said. She wanted to slap that smirk off his face. "You would've come up with every excuse imaginable to delay seeing her."

"How would you know?"

"Because I know you, Pan."

They came to the door and Trunks rang the doorbell, and then put his arm on Pan's shoulder. Pan was about to knock it off when the door opened. She smiled warmly only for it to falter and drop when she saw who stood in the doorway.

Of course, it was Bulma. And she was bald as a baby's bottom.

Trunks was also shocked to see his mother's shiny round head not covered in blue hair. They had identical faces as they looked at the older woman.

Bulma smiled warmly. "Pan, honey, I'm so happy to see you. Videl just called and said you were coming over. Sorry if the house is a mess."

She moved aside to let them through, but both seemed to have super glued their feet to the cement. Pan head slowly cocked to the side. It seemed that she was suddenly struck with a contagious form of retardation. Trunks, though, remembered that he knew how to talk.

He cleared his throat, snapping Pan out of her shock. "Uh…Mom, when did you...uh…When did you-er-change your hair?"

Bulma smiled and placed her manicured fingernail hands on her shiny head. "Well, I decided that since its going to fall out anyway, might as well get it over with. I have a magazine with some really cute wigs in it. Speaking of which," she turned around and Trunks led Pan inside, "I want your opinion on a couple."

Pan saw that they had redecorated. Everything was new and shiny. She was led into the kitchen where some scented candles were lit and made the room smell like cinnamon and cherry pie.

Bulma sifted through the pages of a magazine on the table. "There's a pretty blond wig here that I want you to look at. Trunks, can you go help your father in the basement? One of the cleaner robots is busted and I asked him to fix it."

"No problem." And Trunks walked away, leaving Pan and Bra together. For the first time that day, Pan wished Trunks was with her.

Bulma smiled at Pan warmly. "How are you holding up, darling?"

Pan tried to return the smile. "Everything's been fine. You?"

"Great."

Pan felt like she should say something. There was a lump in her throat. Seeing Bulma made her so nervous. She felt like a kid who had done something bad and was afraid of the punishment when she was caught.

She took a deep breath through her nose and brought up the willpower. "You seem to be holding strong."

Bulma's blue eyes were shining. She gave Pan a small, motherly smile and began flipping through the magazine again. "I'm not afraid, if that's what you mean."

Pan licked her tongue over the bottom row of teeth. The pressure behind her nose grew and the lump in her throat tightened. She meant to speak clearly but her voice broke when she asked, "How?"

Bulma looked up at her and frowned. Pan's eyes were shining with tears and she was blinking rapidly to hold them back. "Oh honey!" The woman pulled her into her embrace. "Baby, its okay. There's no reason to cry. Its okay."

"How can you say that?" Pan mumbled against Bulma's blouse.

The bald woman pulled back and used her thumb to wipe the wetness from under her eye. "Because I know I've lived a full and wonderful life. And we Briefs are very strong willed and are known for our survival." She kissed Pan's forehead. "If I have a negative attitude, it will only get worse. If I keep a positive outlook, then I'll have a better chance of overcoming this. Its only cancer."

Pan's lip quivered. "But what if it doesn't? What if…?"

Bulma slightly shook her head. "Pan, stop looking on the negative side. There are more breast cancer survivors now than there ever has been. And with the money I have, well, I'll be able to afford a lot more medication. Everything's going to be okay."

"B-But Grandma…"

"Pan," She cupped Pan's cheeks, looking her right in the eye, "She was happy."

Pan did not say anything. She only nodded her head. She did not believe her.

Bulma kissed her forehead again and hugged her tightly. Some stomping was coming up the stairs and the muscular figure which was Vegeta came, followed by Trunks.

"I'm telling you, boy, I know what I'm doing," Vegeta's gruffy low voice said.

"I was only trying to help out," came Trunks' reply, "The wires in that thing were all hooked up. You could've hurt yourself by electrocuting yourself."

"I've had energy blasts through my heart, my head pounded in, left on a desolate planet to die, beaten to death, nearly squashed at four hundred times Earth's gravity, a fist go through my stomach, and you don't think I can handle one measly shock?! I'm a Saiyan, dammit!"

The Saiyan Prince came in and saw his wife and Pan. He had on a white top with oil stains on it and torn up jeans. Pan thought he looked more human now than she remembered.

He nodded to Pan. "Its nice to see you, Pan."

She nodded and smiled at him. "Nice to see you, too, Vegeta."

He walked over to the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of water from the dispenser. "You need to teach my son over here to grow some balls. It seems he can't even take a little spark from a robot half his size."

Trunks' jaw dropped. "What the…How could you…!"

Pan sneered and gave Trunks a look. "I don't think I can do any more, Vegeta," she said as she sized Trunks up with her eyes, "I've been trying for years and look at what little progress he's made."

Trunks narrowed his eyes and gave a crude hand gesture to Pan. "Ha ha, very funny. It hurts to laugh."

"I don't feel any pain at all."

"You will in a minute."

"Okay, you kids," Bulma cut in, "I don't want any fighting going on today, not even flirtatious fighting. Vegeta, did you manage to fix the cleaner bot?"

Vegeta grunted. "Yes, woman, and I replaced the motion sensor on it. Happy?"

"Very." Bulma walked over and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek.

"We should be going," Pan said, "Goten is working late today and I want to get dinner ready for him. It's a small favor from me for letting me stay at his place."

"What's wrong with your parents place?" Vegeta asked. Pan knew he didn't really care. He just had to practice good housekeeping skills.

Pan shrugged. "They turned my old room into a sewing room. Last time it was a yoga room." Videl always picked up odd and random hobbies before getting bored and moving to a new one.

Bulma hugged Pan one last time. "Have a good day, dear."

"You, too. Bye Vegeta."

Vegeta nodded.

Trunks and Pan walked out of the house. It was now night, but the street lights kept everything lit in a fluorescent orange glow. When they got to the car, Pan didn't realize how tired she was until they started driving. Trunks had the radio volume low as background music and Pan's head began to bob. To get more comfortable, she laid her head against the window.

Trunks looked over and smiled at Pan. She was asleep, her head against the window and her mouth slack and slightly snoring. She was out like a light.

He turned the music off and drove carefully. Every time he slowed down, Pan's head lolled forward, and then nodded back when he sped up. When they got to Goten's house, he shook Pan gently.

"We're here," he said.

Pan grunted and opened her sleepy eyes, blinking rapidly and looking around. "Oh, thanks." She opened the car door and stumbled out. Trunks laughed and shook his head. Pan glared at him and walked up to the front door. When she twisted the knob, it was locked.

"Son of a…" Pan walked back to the car and tapped on Trunks' window. He rolled it down.

"Is it locked?" he asked.

"No, I'm just afraid it might be a portal into the twilight zone," Pan said sarcastically, "Do you have a key?"

"No, didn't he give you one?"

"Not yet."

"Maybe he has it in a hide-a-key thing."

The two of them walked to the porch and searched on their hands and knees for a hiding place for a key. They came up empty handed.

"Maybe I can break one of the windows and pay him a new one," Pan said, staring at the living room window with the curtains drawn.

"I wouldn't do that," Trunks said, dusting off his knees, "His alarm system will go off and it automatically calls the police."

Pan sighed. "Do you know when he gets off his shift?"

"He always works late shifts."

Pan brushed her hair with her fingers. "Great, I'll just wait for him to get off then."

"Why don't you stay at my place for tonight?"

Pan looked back at him. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

Trunks shrugged his shoulders. "It's better than staying out here all night."

"I don't want him to worry about me when he gets home."

"You can leave him a message on the answer machine. I'm pretty sure he checks it every time he gets home."

Pan looked from Trunks to the door then back to Trunks. "All right. You'll have to let me borrow a pair of your pajamas."

* * *

When they got to his manor, Trunks carried the sleeping Pan inside. She was a very heavy sleeper, so he removed her shoes and changed her clothes, and put her in the guest bedroom. He tucked her in the sheets and turned off the light. 

"Trunks?"

The said man turned around. "Yeah?"

There was a silence and Trunks thought she had fallen asleep. But then she said in a low voice, "Can you stay with me tonight?"

Trunks blinked and cocked his head. "Are you okay?" He walked over and sat at the edge of the bed.

"I just don't want to be alone right now."

Trunks could hear the sound of tears. He kicked off his shoes and crawled behind her. He wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

It was quiet again. Trunks presumed that Pan had fallen asleep, but she surprised him by saying, "I'm sorry."

Trunks gave a breathy chuckle and kissed the top of her head. He wasn't really sure what she meant, but he had a list that could go with it. And each one didn't matter.

"Don't worry about it. Everything's fine. Just sleep."

Pan moved closer to him and did so. Trunks sighed heavily and caught a whiff of her shampoo.

_Baseball, Mom's shiny head, my last prostate exam_, Trunks thought in his head, running through the mental list, _sumo wrestling, every video I ever saw of guys getting hit in the crotch._

Feeling better and calmer, he relaxed and followed Pan into sleep.

* * *

"Pan. Pan, wake up." 

Pan was being shaken again from sleep. She opened her eyes in alarm and saw only pitch darkness.

"Trunks? What is it?" she sat up, hearing him move around the room.

He stubbed his toe on the nightstand. "Shit." She heard the drawer open and him search whatever it is he needed.

"Trunks, what's going on?" Pan reached out to him, but couldn't find him. Her eyes had not yet adjusted in the dark. "Turn on the light."

"The power's out. I'm looking for a flashlight."

Pan sat up. She could hear the loud rumble and bang of thunder and a sudden flash of lightning lit the room up in blue light and she saw Trunks fumbling in the nightstand drawer wearing his boxers and a t-shirt. She could hear the wind howling and make the walls creak. The hair on her arms stood on end; she never did like storms.

Trunks found a penlight and shined it on Pan. "We're going to the basement for a while, okay?"

Her heart made a lunge. "W-What?"

"We're going to the basement for a while," Trunks tugged Pan out of bed, gripping her arm to keep her close. She grabbed his arm, her grip strong with her fear. "It's okay. There's nothing to worry about."

Using the penlight to see, Trunks led Pan down the stairs, past the living room and kitchen, and down another set of stairs to the basement which did not look much like a basement. Pan saw it had a bar and a desk. Trunks directed her to sit under the desk between the wall and bar. He left and came back with a blanket and a cordless radio and some candles. He lit a couple and turned the radio on and began trying to tune it.

Pan put her shoulder on Trunks' arm. "For the last time, what it going on?"

Trunks looked back to her. His face looked haunted from the candlelight. He sighed through his nose and climbed under the desk with her and wrapped the blanket around them both.

"Okay, first off, don't panic when I tell you."

"Oh yeah, now I'm not going to panic."

"Please Pan." She closed her mouth. "There's a tornado coming this way. They said that its going about sixty-five miles and hour, but should only last about forty-five minutes. Goten said he wanted us to stay exactly where we are until he calls us. He's with Marron at her parents' place. They have a cellar."

Pan knew her face looked grave. Her eyes were wide and her lips were in a thin line. Trunks smile and cupped her cheeks. "Everything's okay, Pan. I promise. It probably won't hit us."

"Everyone's okay?" Pan croaked.

"They're fine."

Pan nodded, but her body began to shake. She really hated storms, and tornadoes scared her to death.

"Here," Trunks got up and went to the bar, and then came back with a bottle of scotch, "Have a drink with me."

He took the first sip. It was a small one. He handed it to Pan. Pan sniffed it, smelling the strong smell of whiskey. American whiskey. She brought it to her mouth and took a small sip, her mouth and throat burning before reducing to a comfortable warm. Trunks got the radio on a weather channel, but turned the volume on low so as Pan wouldn't scare herself. They sat there, under the desk with the blanket around them, sharing a bottle of scotch. Pan leaned her head down on Trunks shoulder and Trunks rubbed her arm.

"Should we call your parents?" Pan asked, lifting her head up.

Trunks rolled his eyes. "For the last time, Pan, there's nothing to worry about. Everything's okay." He smiled at her. "I'm here for you."

She could blame it on the booze, or her nerves, but gravity took over and brought them closer. Pan knew it was she who moved closer, moved first. Her lips sensually pressed to Trunks. She tasted the bourbon. Her hands trailed up to his neck. He cupped her cheek and the other went to the back of her head.

She granted him entrance into her mouth and a sensually licked her lips. Their tongues wrapped around each other, tasting each other. The kiss became stronger and rougher. Close didn't seem close enough. They kept pulling each other toward themselves, limbs raking over the other's.

Wasn't this what Pan wanted to avoid? Now she couldn't remember why. Like everyone had told her. Everything's going to be okay.

* * *

(A/N): I am a very dedicated writer, dammit! That last bit was for me. I finished this fanfic real quickly because there's a tornado warning. Now I have to hurry up and publish this before my room is ripped off. Ja ne. :-) 


	18. No Holding Back

**No Holding Back**

The storm wasn't that big of a deal, after all. Some streets were flooded and there was lots of mud and some home damages, but other than that, Pan had overreacted.

The cloud and fog blocked her figure as she flew across the sky. When she landed, her tennis shoes squelched in the mud. She was in front of her uncle's house. She saw him before she landed, grabbing a large tree that had fallen over on his house, picking it up on his shoulder, and then throwing it twenty yards away back into the woods.

"Hey!" she called out.

She knew he knew she was there, but that didn't stop him from looking back to her with his famous Son smile. "Hey," he called, "Looks like you're alive."

She walked over to him. "So does your house." She looked at the damage the tree had done to the roof and the side. "Barely."

His chuckle was low in his throat as he picked up the fallen tree limbs and twigs. "I'll fix it up. It's still standing. That's what counts."

"Need any help?"

He looked over to her. She was wearing jeans, a large t-shirt, and muddy tennis shoes with her hair up. He smiled and then tossed her a pair of garden gloves like the ones he was wearing.

They worked around the yard, once green with grass, now brown and black with mud. It hadn't been ten minutes before Goten spoke up.

"You're glowing."

The limb Pan was throwing to the pile suddenly caught her off balance and she fell flat on stomach, covering her front and face in mud.

"Well, not anymore." He walked over to her, reaching a hand out. "You okay?"

She crawled up, trying to wipe off some of the mud with no prevail. "Yeah…just tripped." She looked at him. He was smiling smugly to her. "What?"

His shoulders bounced as he laughed. "So can I officially call you guys a couple, then?"

Her jaw fell open. He knew. "What the-Goten!" She smacked him on the arm. It didn't hurt, but he rubbed it anyway. "What about you and Marron?"

"What about us?"

"Looks like you guys are becoming a little closer," Pan said, dropping the emphasis on 'closer'.

There was nothing funnier than seeing a man blush, not that you couldn't particularly see in on Goten if you were not looking. He shrugged one shoulder and then hurled a piece of bark to the pile. "I don't really have time for a relationship."

Pan was about to retort, but something in her uncle's eyes made her shut her mouth. He looked almost too old for his age, like he was older than his brother. And she understood. Between his mother's death and the issue with Paris, he had a lot on his shoulders. She understood. He was isolating himself. Hoping that if he didn't get too close to people, it wouldn't hurt when they were gone. He loved his mother, and he loved Paris.

Pan turned away and continued to clean the yard. The silence was thick and awkward, but she didn't know what to say to help the matters.

* * *

They had gotten the yard completed in no time. Pan left to see her parents and make sure they were okay and if they needed help. Goten changed his clothes and drove by the hardware store to get some tools, and on his way back he noticed a familiar green car in his driveway. He walked inside and was greeted by the delicious smell of cooking meat and vegetables.

"Hey Goten," came a sweet reply. Marron came out of the kitchen with a large pot of steaming food and set it on the dining table, "Thought I would cook you up some dinner. Hope you don't mind."

Goten smiled widely. He loved Marron's cooking. "Not at all."

He changed his clothes to be more presentable, and, after getting a whiff of his manly sweat, took a shower. When he was done, the dining table was filled with pots and plates with Marron's home cooking.

"This looks delicious, thank you," he said as he sat down. His stomach rumbled in happiness.

Marron smiled brightly at him and sat down on his right and they began making their plates. They had small talk about the weather and what was going on in each other's worlds before just falling into a comfortable silence of eating.

Of course, no girl could have complete silence. It just wasn't in their nature.

"Goten?" she timidly asked.

Goten looked up at her, his mouth full of chicken and rice. "Hrm?"

She picked at her food with her chopsticks. "How come…how come we're not close?"

He chewed slowly and forced the lump down his throat. "What are you talking about? We're very close."

Marron gave him a sad look, her blue eyes distant. "No, we're not that close. Not close like a real couple. You distance yourself."

"I'm working all the time, Marron," Goten countered, "I haven't had time to be social and hang out with friends."

"Goten, you work for Tokyo PD. It's not like America where there's crime and robbing on every street," Marron continued, "I know that you mostly roam the streets in cruiser or stay at the station, and then when you come home you work outside that doesn't need to be worked on."

"Have you seen the yard?" Goten retaliated, "It looks like crap! I'm going to be spending hours out there to get it fixed up."

"I'm talking about before the storm, Goten. You built and rebuilt the tool shed three times because you said 'it just didn't look right'."

"What do you want me to do, Marron? Spend more time with you?"

Her perfectly arched eyebrows knitted closer together. "You don't have to get snippy with me! I just want us to be closer."

"What more do you want me to do, then?" Goten put his hands up, defeated and frustrated.

Marron was also getting frustrated and fed up. "Yes, Goten, I want you to spend more time with me! All I do is come over here and cook for you!"

"I never said you'd have to!"

"But I love to Goten!" Goten was taken aback when Marron had shouted this. Her cheeks turned pink and her blue eyes were shining with tears. "I love it when I cook you a meal and I love it when I watch you enjoy my cooking. I love it when you smile at my stories. I love it when you tell me about your day, whether boring or exciting or happy or sad." Her tears were streaming down her cheeks, slowly. Goten swallowed; he hated it when girls cried. "I love you, Goten. Why won't you get close to me?"

"Baby," he pulled her to his chest, letting her sit in his lap, "I do love you, I do."

Marron sniffled against his shirt. "Then why do you keep pushing me away? Do you not want to be with me?"

"No, Dende no!" Goten said, stroking her blonde hair, "I love having you. I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have someone like you with me."

"Then what is it, Goten? Are you afraid that I'll leave you?"

_Paris._ Goten sighed against her head, breathing in the smell of lilac shampoo. "No, of course not." He rubbed her arms. "I just…I don't really know why. But I'll stop."

"Goten?"

"Hm?"

She looked up at him. It almost broke his heart. "Are you depressed?" Goten blinked at the question. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't really, was he? "If you are, then maybe we could get some help. Some counseling maybe?"

He sighed defeated, "Would that make you happy?"

"I just want you to be happy."

"I'm always happy when I'm with you."

Marron twisted herself in his lap so she was facing him with her legs on either side of him. She cupped his jaw and looked him straight in the eye. "Please get some counseling, Goten. Not for me, but for yourself."

Goten closed his eyes and sighed heavily. His pride was wounded but his love for this woman was greater than wounded pride. He opened his eyes and nodded, giving her a smile. "Okay. You pick the doctor and make an appointment and I'll show up."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Marron smiled happily and kissed him on the lips. His large hands placed themselves on the small of her back, pushing her more against him. The kiss was first just lips with some playful nipping before Marron wrapped her arms around Goten's broad shoulders and deepened it.

* * *

She wasn't sure what she and Trunks were now, but they definitely weren't just friends. Friends with benefits? Or a couple? She wasn't sure. She spent more and more time with him and it didn't take a genius to realize she was falling for him. She made sure that she spent more time at her parent's house than his, although her parents did not know where she was when they were at work.

It had been nearly two weeks since the storm and the night she had spent over at Trunks' house. Recently she and Trunks had gotten in an argument and she went back to her parent's house to pout and be mad at him until he called and apologized. But instead, Pan had gotten a phone call from one of the news stations she had sent applications out. The phone call had awoken her out of bed.

"H-Hello?" she asked groggily, wiping sleep from her eyes. She had slept in her old bed at her parents house.

"Pan Son? Hi. This is Nakura Yoshima from WNNA News. We've gone over your application and resume and we find you to be a very good candidate for our executive assistant job."

Pan sat up, fully awake now. "Wow, that, uh, that was fast."

"WNNA News likes to move at a quicker pace than our competitors. So, do you think you can make it for an interview?"

Pan moved over to her old desk where she had her day planner. "Ah, yes, what date would it be?"

"Are you free today?"

The pen she was going to write with fell out of her hands and her eyebrows disappeared in her hairline. "I-I'm sorry?"

"Well if you're not free today then we can reschedule you…"

"No no, I'm free," Pan said, picking up the pen again, "What time do you want me to be in?"

"Would four o'clock be good for you, Miss Son?"

"Yes, yes, four o'clock would be great." She scribbled it down, but she knew she wouldn't forget.

"We'll see you then, Miss Son. Thank you."

"Thank you, too."

She hung up and crossed to the bathroom in her room. She stripped herself from her pajamas and while she was pulling her shirt over her head, she suddenly felt a sudden wave of nausea. She put her hands on the counter next to her sink and took deep breaths while she felt her stomach twist and turn.

The nausea and the turning of her stomach became to much and she made a grab for the toilet. She didn't even have enough time to hold her hair back before she emptied her stomach of yesterday's meal into the bowl. After a few minutes of retching, she sat up and wiped her mouth with toilet paper before flushing it.

She stood up, a little shaky and sweating a little, but then she realized she was no longer nauseas. She decided that after her shower she would take some medication for her active stomach. She couldn't go throwing up all over her new boss if she got the job.

She turned on the shower, checked the temperature, and stepped inside.

* * *

Usually Vegeta didn't wake up this early. After his kids had moved out and Bulma had retired, he felt that he could sleep in if he wasn't needed. But something was odd. A gut feeling told him something was wrong. He looked over and saw that Bulma's side of the bed was empty. This wasn't unusual since she usually woke before him.

But still, something didn't seem right. He got out of bed and cautiously looked around.

"Bulma?" he called out, his voice low. There was a light coming from the bathroom. He cautiously walked towards it. "Bulma?" He heard the shower running when he opened the door. She had yet to answer to him. He pulled the curtain back.

A sharp gasp escaped when he saw his wife on the floor of the tub, water spraying down on her and she not moving.

"Bulma. Bulma!" He shook her but she did not wake up. He then gathered her into his arms. "Hold on, I'm taking you to the hospital."

He wrapped her in a bathrobe and a towel before he opened the bedroom window and flew off, not caring who saw. If he had to, he would explain later. For now, something was wrong with his wife.

* * *

"Trunks! Trunks!" Pan called out when she entered his house, "Trunks, where are you? I've got great news!"

She knew he was here; he wasn't at work and his car was in the driveway. She went up the stairs to his bedroom, somehow knowing he was in there.

"Trunks! Guess what? I got the job at the news sta…"

But she trailed off. Trunks was sitting on his bed with his head down and cordless phone in his hands. When he looked up at her, his eyes were bloodshot and red. Her purse dropped to the floor and her mouth slowly opened in shock and worry.

He sucked in a breath and looked down at the floor. "Mom's in the hospital. They think the cancer may have spread to her lungs."

All the good feelings were gone, out the window. Despair returned again. Her feet felt like lead, but she carried herself over to him, sitting next to him and wrapping her arms around him. He embraced her and laid his cheek against the top of her head, holding her tight against him as if he was afraid she would drift away in smoke.

Pan closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Trunks."

"It's okay," he said in a broken voice.

"I love you."

They both paused at this. Both blinking in confusion. Did that come from Pan? He pulled back and looked at her. She looked just as shocked as he did.

"Do you…Do you mean that?"

She looked away in thought, thinking hard. After awhile, she nodded. "Yeah…I do." It was strange. She still felt sad about Bulma, worrying about her, but after she said those words, it felt like a pressure was lifted off her that she didn't know about. It was hard to accept for her, but her heart felt lighter in her chest.

Trunks didn't smile. He just shook his head. "What a great time to finally say it, huh?"

Pan wasn't sure if it was a joke or not. Either way, she didn't laugh. Just when she was ready to wear her heart on her sleeve, it was breaking.

Trunks kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, too. But it was about damn time you realized it."

Pan had never been so happy and upset, so joyful and so scared in her life. But right now, things could wait. For this second, there were no secrets. Their feelings were out.

There was no going back.

* * *

(A/N): I would just like to apologize again for last chapter in the letter. I just felt, as the author, I needed to defend my work. We've got lots of drama now. What's going to happen. I hope you enjoy. Oh, and I may need help from my reviewers on a certain subject, but I won't tell you what yet. You'll have to wait and see. In the next chapter. Please tell me what you think. And I don't mind long reviews, they're fun to read. And thank you all for the support you've given this story. Thanks very much. Ja ne.


	19. Impossible is Always Possible

**The Impossible is Always Possible**

Bulma was doing better. It seemed she only had a fainting period of exhaustion and would be needing bed-rest at the hospital for a couple days while they monitored the cancer and gave her the chemotherapy. They all came to visit her and she was awake and happy to see them, and Vegeta never left her side.

After talking and checking up on her, Pan felt that it would be okay to leave. She was now over at her parents' house, Gohan was at work. Pan had promised she would help her mother make goody bags for the upcoming party at the Daycare Videl worked at. Pan had decided that it was time for her mother to know what was going on between Trunks and her; thus, this was the conversation they were currently on.

"You and Trunks, huh?" Videl asked with a smile on her face and a wiggle in her brows. She twist-tied the little orange and green baggies.

Pan knew she was blushing. "Yes, Trunks and I are together. Don't make a big deal out of it."

Videl shrugged, her smile still smug. "I'm not making a big deal out of it. I always knew you guys would get together. It took you long enough."

"That's exactly what Trunks said."

"He's right."

Pan laughed and finished two more little baggies of candy.

"Panny?" Videl asked.

Pan looked up, knowing something was up by her mother's voice. "Yeah, Mom?"

Videl smiled at her, but it was a worrying smile. "Can we talk about something?"

"Yeah, anything. What is it?"

Her mother leaned back and folded her hands in front of her on the table. "While you were gone, I cleaned up your room a little bit. Well, I came across your old diary, and I know I shouldn't have, but I went through it."

Pan blinked. She had forgotten she had a diary, and she couldn't remember what was in it to save her life. "And?"

Videl gave a heavy sigh, her shoulders rising and falling. "Baby, I read that you wanted to quit being a Z fighter, and you never wanted your kids to know they were Saiyans. Is that true?"

Now Pan remembered. It was foggy, but she knew the vague of it. She licked her lips before she answered. "Back then…yes. I was a little upset about something."

Videl leaned closer, putting her hand on her daughter's. "Pan, what happened for you to feel that way?"

Pan looked at her mother but didn't say anything. The bag of treats held her interest instead.

"Pan, please talk to me. Is that why you left?"

A lump lodged itself in Pan's throat. It was time to let it out. "Yeah…Yeah it was why I left."

A mother squeezed her hand. "Why?"

She didn't look at her. And the words tumbled out. "I didn't want to be like Grandma."

Videl's look turned from concerned to mournful sad.

Here we go.

"That was when I started having feelings for Trunks, crushing on him. We had all gone out to dinner and Trunks dropped me off and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Grandma was the only one who knew I liked him back then…."

* * *

Seven Years Earlier

Trunks pulled his car into the Son driveway, he and Pan still singing very off key to the song on the radio. When the song was over, they were stuck in a fit of laughter. They laughed so hard that tears were bringing themselves up in Pan's eye. She wiped them away.

"Oh Dende," she said as she readjusted her bandana, "I better get inside before my dad comes out here with a shotgun."

Trunks laughed, "Yeah, I can see him looking through the window."

She opened her car door. "See you later, Trunks."

"Hey, Pan, come here for a moment?"

"Yeah?"

He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "See ya."

Pan smiled and climbed out. She waved goodbye and watched as Trunks pulled away and drove off. She rubbed the spot on her cheek where his lips touched, her cheeks becoming rosy. She smiled goofily and went inside.

"Hey Pan," said her father, sitting on the couch, "How was dinner?"

She smiled, still goofily. "It was great."

She climbed the stairs to her room and then fell on her bed, sighing happily as she hugged her pillow. "Mrs. Pan Briefs," she whispered, followed by girly giggling.

Deciding that it was still early, she moved over to her vanity and brushed her short hair and putting back on her bandana. She hadn't seen Chi-Chi in a while so it would be good to check up on things; besides, she had something juicy to share with her, something with lavender hair and rhymed with 'Bunks'.

Pan ran down the stairs. "I'm going to go visit, Grandma," she called out to whoever happened to be there.

"Okay, Pan," she heard her dad reply before she shot off into the sky.

She flew in the sky for a while, loving the feel of the warm air brush in her face. She landed in front of her grandmother's house and opened the door, letting herself in. She smiled to herself, wanting to surprise her. She looked in the kitchen but saw she wasn't there. She must be in her room.

Slowly, she tiptoed over to the door. When she was next to it, she heard a sound she wasn't expecting to hear.

Was that…sobbing?

Now concerned and curious, she opened the door a crack and peeked inside.

She saw her grandmother on her bed, her back to the door, and curled up in the fetal position. Her body rocked with her sobs.

"G-Goku!" Chi-Chi stuttered, "I-I-I miss you. Please…please come back! Please!"

She sobbed harder. Pan stared in horrid fascination. She had never seen her grandmother cry so hard. Not even when Goten got shot at when he was an officer in training. And it was for Grandpa, for Goku.

"Please Goku!" Chi-Chi continued to cry, "Please! I miss you so much. I'm so lonely….You're family misses you…please…D-Don't you care about me?..."

Pan had heard enough. She wanted to get out of here. She didn't want to see her grandmother like this.

But before she turned around to leave, she heard:

"Don't you love me?"

This broke Pan. It felt like her heart was ripped out of her chest. She hurried off and took off to the sky. Tears disappeared in the wind. She angrily wiped them away. Hot, black hatred and loathing for her Grandfather came. She shouted to the mountains in despair and anger. She bit her lip so hard it drew blood.

She screamed for hours, until her voice was raw. And then, when she decided that all there was to do now was go home, she flew off.

"I will never fall in love with a Z fighter!" she vowed to the clouds, "I will not make the same mistake!"

Trunks…

"I will say goodbye."

* * *

Before Pan could actually work at the news station, she had to have a physical. So now she was at her doctor's, waiting for her doctor to come back. She rubbed the spot just below her elbow where the doctor drew blood. She had a pink bandage over it, but the damn thing itched.

The door opened and her doctor came in smiling. "Well, everything looks okay here. There's just something I want to ask you a few questions, though," he said as he sat in his chair.

"Of course," Pan said, smiling, "Fire away, doc."

"Have you had sex recently?"

Pan's eyes rounded. She was surprised by this question, but it was a legitimate medical question. "Yes, I am sexually active."

"Are you on birth control?" the doctor continued.

"No, but we're using protection."

"Have you had any unprotected sex?"

"No…wait…" she thought back. "Yeah…once…or twice…"

He had on a large smile and he sat the folder down on the miniature desk he had. "Well, congratulations, Pan! You're going to have a baby!"

And that's when the world stopped spinning on its axis and completely fell out of orbit. Pan thought that her doctor had suddenly spoken another language out of the blue. The only problem was he didn't and Pan knew _exactly_ what he said. Her mouth dropped and all color disappeared from her face.

Her first reaction was to be ignorant to it. "C-Come again?"

He kept smiling. "The blood tests covers pregnancy tests and you're positive. With today's technology, we can tell how long you've been pregnant. It says here nine weeks."

And then there was denial. "I-I-I-I can't be…there's no way…nine weeks? I've only been here for two and a half weeks! It's impossible! I can't be pregnant!"

"Well, you are," the doctor said with a shrug, "Can't you think back and see if there was an event that might have happened?"

"Nine weeks ago…" Pan looked up and moved her fingers, counting. "Nine weeks ago I was in New York." Her face turned grave. "I was in New York with Trunks." The one night stand. "Oh Dende." She suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. Her heart was pulsing against her chest, and she could hear it! "Oh Dende! B-But I-I went to the gyno! They said I wasn't! I took a home test! I even had my period after that!"

"Well, some women can have a period in the early stages of the pregnancy," informed her doctor, "It doesn't move the egg, but it does blah, blah, blah…"

The doctor continued with his explanation but Pan couldn't really understand what he was saying. She picked up a few terms she was familiar with but the rest went over her head.

"…and some home tests look for certain hormones. You're heritage might have even manipulated it. Who knows? And as for your gyno, well, I can't say much for him or her. All that matters now is that you're going to be a mommy! Isn't that wonderful?"

Pan didn't look like it was wonderful. She looked like she was going to be sick. _Oh please don't let it be morning sickness!_ And it finally came to her why she only threw up in the morning nearly three times a week.

"Maybe you should go home and think on it before I schedule an appointment for the ultrasound."

Pan automatically nodded like a robot. "Yeah…okay…you do that, doc." What did he say again?

He stood up and so did Pan. He opened the door and gave her a pat on the back. "You take care of yourself and that baby, Pan." He smiled widely.

"Yeah..." Pan said in a daze, "Okay…you, too…"

Like a zombie, Pan walked out of the hospital and down to the parking lot where her car was. She slipped inside and didn't even start it. She just stared at the steering wheel.

She was pregnant. Had been pregnant. She was going to be a mom. What if she and Trunks hadn't gotten together? What would've happened to her and her children? How was she going to take care of them? She wasn't married! She wasn't ready! But it was too late. The seed was planted and Pan was fertile.

She gripped the steering wheel and sucked in a large breath before she did what she felt fit to do at this time.

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

After a few minutes of screaming, and people giving her strange looks, she decided she couldn't stay in the parking lot for the rest of her life. She started her car and drove away. She wasn't sure where she was headed until she arrived at her parents' house. She walked inside and was greeted with a living room filled with boxes.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

Her mother came down from the stairs with another box while her father followed behind her with three. "We're cleaning out the attic," she said, happily. "Can you believe al that we had up there?"

"I can't believe we had that much stuff," Gohan said, setting down the boxes on the floor.

"Oh Pan look!" Videl put her hands inside one of the boxes and pulled out little baby shoes. "You're little booties! You were so cute and little." She smiled at her daughter but it faded into a frown. "Pan?"

Gohan looked up at his daughter. She was pale and staring at the clothes like they were the plague. "Panny?"

Then Pan's eyes rolled in the back of her head and she became limp. Gohan caught her just in time before she fell on the floor.

"Pan! Pan! Are you okay? Pan!"

* * *

_(A/N): Wow, two chapters in one night? It's not going to happen again. I know you guys think this is a little too absurd, but I watched a special documentation of pregnancies on the Discovery Health channel and they said that this was all true. So, yes, this may all be a little weird, but I've been planning it for a while. Also, my friend said that she had one short period at the beginning of her pregnancy so I based this off of her, too. There's going to be more drama coming up. Sorry for anything that seems a little extreme. I've just been dying to do this for a while. ____ Ja ne! _


	20. Symptoms

**Symptoms**

While getting ready for work, today she would start training, Trunks had been very close to finding out the big secret. She wasn't ready to tell him, but she definitely knew it was coming. She was the first one out of bed and was starting to get ready when the morning sickness came. To make sure he didn't hear, she covered her mouth and ran down to the downstairs bathroom. While she was puking her brains out, there was a knock on the door.

"Pan?" It was Trunks. "Are you all right?"

She spat into the toilet. "I-I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You sound pretty sick."

She turned back to the toilet and hurled again.

"Want me to call a doctor?"

"No!" Pan shouted, "I'm fine. The chilly cheese fries didn't agree with me, that's all."

"You sure?"

She wiped her mouth off and checked herself in the mirror before opening the door where Trunks was in his boxers. She smiled sweetly to him. "I promise. If I don't get any better at work, I'll come home and take some medicine."

He put his hand on her forehead. "Maybe you should skip work."

"I can't miss my first day, Trunks," Pan said, walking past him.

So that was how her morning went. She spent the next seven hours being shown around the station and her office, which was actually a cubicle. It was going to be her job to schedule interviews and come up with the schedule for the news, so Pan deduced that she was a secretary. Okay.

She also found out that people here seemed to be either on crack, or they were shooting caffeine into their veins. Everyone had so much energy. Even being a Saiyan, Pan felt exhausted just watching them. Then again, it could be the pregnancy…

And it was hell! Her breasts were always tender, her back ached for no reason, she had headaches so easily, and she felt tired all the damn time. It was like her body wasn't hers anymore. And her bladder must have shrunk because she needed to pee every thirty minutes it seemed like.

Bra called her and congratulated her on her new job. She and Uub wanted to take her out to dinner. They agreed on a place and after work, Pan arrived at the restaurant.

"So you're working in news, huh?" Bra said with a large smile as she added dressing to her salad, "Going from radio to tv. You're moving on up."

Pan laughed. She had a salad, too, with no dressing. They were waiting on their food and drinks. Bra order a long island tea, and Pan ordered lemonade. "I'm not on television, actually. I'm the one that tells them what to say."

"Still important," Uub said. Pan hadn't noticed before but Uub had his right ear pierced.

"When did you get that done?" she asked.

"Oh," Uub looked down at the table, blushing a little but smiling. "Around the time when…I came out."

"When you came…OH!" Pan's face turned to surprise, "You mean you're gay?"

Uub put his hands up in surrender and shrugged. "What can I say?"

"Wow," Pan leaned back, "I could've sworn you guys were dating. I didn't want to say anything, though."

Bra laughed. "That's what everyone thought."

"Does everyone else know?"

"Of course," Uub said, "I told them all at once. They're okay with it."

"But Dad got up and left the room," Bra interjected.

Pan's mouth fell open. "You told Vegeta, too?"

Uub nodded and they all laughed hysterically.

Pan wiped the tears from her eyes. "Oh Dende, what else have I missed? Are you gay, too, Bra?"

Bra laughed and took a bite of her salad, "I wish sometimes. Do you know how hard it is to find a decent guy?"

"What about Kaoru?" Uub asked.

"I dumped him three days ago," Bra said, waving her hand, "Too clingy."

Uub gave her a knowing look. "I told he was desperate."

"Oh whatever."

They chatted and laughed at jokes while they ate and drank. Pan had to excuse herself three times to pee. Bra told her about all her relationships, which was more like a lecture on all the soap operas than just a list. Uub had dated two guys, but was single now. Pan told them about losing her virginity in college and only sleeping with two guys her whole life; the one she lost her virginity to and Trunks.

"Mom told us you were with Trunks," Bra said, "Told her while she was visiting in the hospital."

"Yeah, Mom told me," Pan said, "How is Bulma doing anyway?"

"Much better," Bra nodded, "They had to sedate her when she tried to escape. Bit one of the doctors."

After they were done eating, Bra paid the tab, not giving Pan a chance to pay for her half. While they stood up to leave, the room suddenly spun and Pan had to grab onto the chair for support. Her vision was fading in and out.

"Pan?" Concerned, Bra wrapped her arm around her, "Are you all right?"

Pan closed her eyes and nodded, making everything straight again. "I'm fine. Just got up too fast." Bra gave her a puzzling look but Pan just smiled. "I'm fine, I swear."

"Trunks told me to keep an eye on you," Bra said, "Said you were throwing up this morning."

Pan gave her an annoyed look as they walked out. She had taken a to-go drink with her. "That prick. I'm fine, I just had an upset stomach this morning."

Uub laughed. "That's good. When I heard, I thought you had morning sickness."

Pan, who had stupidly decided she was thirsty, shot lemonade out her nose, causing her to cough and snort. The smile on Uub's face slowly disappeared. While Pan was having a coughing fit and was wiping off the embarrassment on her face, Uub and Bra exchanged glances.

"Pan…" Bra said slowly, "This is going to sound weird, but…are you pregnant?"

Fuck.

"Wh-What?" Pan straightened up, smiling like it was a joke, "Why would you say something like that? I mean, come on…" She laughed but it died away when Bra and Uub wore identical faces.

And then they both smiled widely.

"You are! Oh Dende! This is great!" Bra shouted with glee, waving her hands in front of her face, "I'm going to be an aunt! I'm gonna be an aunt!"

"Shh!" Pan hissed, "Not a word, you understand, or so help me gods, I will go hormonal on you. No one knows yet."

Uub's mouth opened. "You mean you haven't told Trunks, yet?"

Pan blushed. "I'm going to. I just haven't gotten the courage, yet."

"Well you better soon," Bra said, hands on her hips, "How else will you explain your stomach getting big?"

"I could tell him I'm fat." Bra gave Pan a look. "I'm going to tell him." The look became sterner. "Today! I'll tell him today!"

"Good."

"But until I do. Do not mention it to _anyone_. Got it?" They nodded. "Good. Now if you don't mind. I'm in the mood for a chocolate smoothie with pickles. You're buying Uub."

"Crazy cravings?" Uub asked.

Pan shrugged. "Not sure. I ate it as a kid."

* * *

Trunks pulled into his driveway during his lunch break. He sorted through the mail, mostly it being catalogues, and then went to check his messages. He had three new ones, the red number blinking on his answer machine. 

"Mr. Briefs, this is (put random name here) with Telecom South Banking. If you are interested in…" Trunks deleted.

Next. "Hey Mr. Briefs, its Mitch here. Just wanted to tell you congratulations on scoring such a lovely lady. Not that you need congratulating. She is real pretty, though…" Deleted.

Last one. "Hi, I'm trying to reach a Miss, Pan Son?" Trunks looked at the machine. He guessed Pan told them she was living over here. That brought a smile to his face. "I'm Deborah with Tokyo Bay Hospital. You didn't give us a number so we used the number on the insurance card you gave us. I just wanted to confirm if you would still be able to make your ultrasound appointment this Friday." Trunks raised an eyebrow. Ultrasound? "We would like to make have an ultrasound done while you're still in your first trimester." Wait, trimester? What was she talking about? "Well, give us a call. Thank you."

Trunks stared at the machine, confused. Why would Pan need an ultrasound? Ultrasound…trimester…

_"I'm fine. The chilly cheese fries didn't agree with me, that's all."_

A loud, audible sound that sounded like a cross between a gasp and a sharp intake choked itself in Trunks' throat. He went completely rigid. He stared at the machine with wide eyes like it was a live being that would eat him if he moved.

* * *

Trunks was sitting on the couch, still watching the machine intently. He had listened to the message twice, staring at the solid '1' that was displayed. He heard a car pull in but didn't look up when the door opened. 

Pan smiled at him. "Hey, Trunks." She stopped. His eyes didn't leave the answer machine. "Um, what's going on?"

Slowly his blue eyes moved up to hers. He didn't blink at all. "Oh, I don't know. Nothing much. Anything you want to tell me? Anything at all?"

Pan blinked. "What?"

Trunks smiled, "Nothing? Nothing about going to the hospital? Needing an ultrasound?"

Pan blinked, but then her chocolate brown eyes widened and her mouth dropped to an 'O'. "Oh…you, uh, know, huh?"

There was a twitch in Trunks' eye. She would have found it amusing if she wasn't scared out of her mind. "I know? No actually, I don't really know! You never told me! How could you not tell me? I had to be told from Deborah!"

"Who?"

"Th-The lady on the message!" Trunks stood up, running his fingers through his hair. "How could you think to keep this from me, Pan? I've got to know!"

Stupid, stupid hormones! The old Pan wouldn't suddenly be caught up in a wave of tears, and they weren't just watery eyes; they were pouring out like faucets.

When Trunks saw, he suddenly became very pale and had the guiltiest look on his face that she had seen, yet. "Oh Pan, I didn't mean…Don't cry, please don't cry."

Pan wasn't crying, she was sobbing. "I was scared!" she blurted out, "I didn't know what to do! What if you left me? What if we weren't together? What if I was in New York?" Trunks came over to her and wrapped his arms around her, shushing her, but that barely helped. "I am scared Trunks! We've only been together for a while and all the sudden I'm nine weeks pregnant!"

"Pan, Pan, baby, it'll be okay," Trunks soothed and calmly said, while thinking back the nine weeks, "It is mine, isn't it?"

And then, just like that, Pan went from scared, sobbing girl to angry, pregnant lady. The look she gave him was enough to pull himself off her and pray to Dende to make his death a quick one.

"Of course it's yours!" Pan screeched, "What, do you think I'm some whore that will sleep with anybody? Do you think I just walked the streets and prostituted myself? Well, I did live in New York, didn't I? Must be a whore, shouldn't I?"

Trunks waved his hands in front of him. "N-No, I didn't mean anything by that, Pan!"

"If you don't want me or the baby, then fine!" Pan was back to sobbing again, "I-I'll just leave and raise it on my own! That way we won't bother you!"

"Pan!" Trunks took her hands and held them tightly in his, "I'm not leaving, and you're not leaving. I want you here with me. This is mine just as much as it is yours. I'm going to be here for both of you. I love you." He kissed her forehead.

She laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm scared, Trunks. I don't know what to do. We're not married. And I'm not fit to be a mother."

He gently caressed her arms. "You'll be a great mother. And, if you want to, we can get married."

"Well, we'll have to now, won't we."

Trunks gently took them both down to the couch and he soothed her. Several minutes ticked by.

"I'm still scared," came the meek reply of Pan.

Trunks kissed the top of her head and sighed. "I know, Pan. We'll get through this, together."

* * *

Trunks and Pan both knew that they would have to tell the "great news" to their parents someday, but couldn't they wait a few more days? They both agreed that they should do it soon (better earlier than in the delivery room) but they also decided to see if they could determine the sex of the baby first. 

Trunks accompanied her to the doctor's. While she laid in the long, bulky hospital bed/lounge chair, she pulled up her shirt to the under wire of her bra. She stared at her belly, which was still flat and showed off the fine lines that were her abs. She wondered if there really was a bulge, or if she was imagining it.

Trunks held her hand as the nurse rubbed the gooey liquid on her body, then put the sensor on her stomach, moving around. The black and white screen they saw was very foreign to them, they just saw black and gray, but the nurse seemed to be translating something.

"Hmm," the nurse said, keeping the sensor on one spot just below Pan's belly button. Pan looked at Trunks with concern. He looked down to her and squeezed her hand, answering her unasked questions.

"Is there something wrong, ma'am?" he asked the nurse.

The nurse turned and smiled at them. "We were in for a surprise!" She exclaimed happily, "I found two fetuses."

Trunks and Pan both stared at her, their heads slightly cocked. "Excuse me?" they asked together.

The nurse laughed. "You're having twins! And by the way they are apart and have different placentas and amniotic sacks, you don't have to worry about knowing who's who because they're fraternal."

She kept smiling while both Pan and Trunks had their mouths open. Pan looked up at Trunks and saw the color in his face slowly drain like a cartoon characters. But he didn't look at her, just at the ultrasound that showed two blobs with beating hearts that were the babies. And they were mobile, moving around in the same place. Now that he could see, they looked like little, very tiny people.

They weren't having one, but two.

Twins.

It hung in the air like a thick fog on Halloween.

Twins.

Twins…

"Trunks?"

"Mr. Briefs, are you okay?"

And then the ground slipped from underneath him and the room spun before it turned dark.

The nurse moved quickly to call the doctor. Pan looked down at Trunks crumpled on the floor where he fainted, completely out.

"Wimp."

* * *

_(A/N): Okay, I had a few messages sent to me asking me not to have Uub and Bra a couple. Happy now? Uub is gay, Goten's infertile, and Pan is having twins. Oh the drama! By the way, I'm using my sister's pregnancy for most of the info. She didn't start having morning sickness till she was nine weeks and it only lasted a few weeks. She has twin girls that are now almost three years old. Any advice about pregnancy or stories of your own will definately help me! Oh, and should I bring the rating up from all the talk? Tell me and review! Ja ne! _


	21. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

**Two Steps Forward, One Step Back**

Down at Tokyo Bay Hospital, a blond haired blue eyed nurse was doing some last minute filing. She hardly ever scanned through the contents, one because she really wasn't allowed to, and two because it made her work day longer and her time getting home farther away. Nothing was going to stop her from leaving on time today. She might have sparkly blue eyes, but they were fierce and could make your spine run cold. She did control the nurse unit, and sometimes, she controlled the doctors.

Her name was lost many, many years ago, only given an assigned number. She was Android Eighteen. She wore that name proudly although it was more of an infection than a badge of honor. But here she went under the alias of Nurse Deborah Chestnut.

What a blah name. It was Krillin's idea.

It had been a slow day today, not too many patients and the ones they already had were still living and fine, or they had died and it had not come as a big shocker from the state of their conditions. And because one of the front desk ladies called in sick, Eighteen was there to do her work.

That bitch better be sick.

Basically what she had to do was file, sort, and sometimes make reminding phone calls and act like mommy to get these damn incompetent humans to make their appointments and not get horrendous diseases and diagnosis, making her work days more hectic and longer.

She picked up file after file, reading the name, and placing it where it needed to go. This went on for an hour and a half. When she picked up another file, this one pink from which meant infantry, she had almost gotten it in its proper cabinet when it clicked in her head.

Son, Pan.

Hmm. Eighteen flicked it open with her fingernail. Oops, it accidentally opened. She skimmed over the contents and a smirk tugged at her lips. The devil on her shoulder was scheming; the angel was stuck in traffic somewhere. She read over the contents. Pan had just found out that she was pregnant and had scheduled an ultrasound for that Friday. And although there was not a note of reminder, Eighteen felt it was in the goodness of her heart to remind Pan so she won't be late to her appointment.

She picked up the phone and dialed Trunks' number and knew that Pan had practically moved in, like her daughter Marron had practically moved in with Goten. She saw Pan used Trunks' insurance but gave them her cell phone number. But of course, Eighteen did not "see" this cell phone number. She dialed Trunks' home phone number and got the answer machine.

In her sweetest and nearly foreign voice she said, "Hi, I'm trying to reach Pan Son? I'm Deborah with Tokyo Bay Hospital. You didn't give us a number so we used the number on the insurance card you gave us. I just wanted to confirm if you would still be able to make your ultrasound appointment this Friday. We would like to have an ultrasound done while you're still in your first trimester. Well, give us a call. Thank you."

After she was done, her angelic conscious returned and told her what she did was wrong, but hey, Pan never told her she was pregnant, and she wanted to make sure Trunks knew if he already didn't, not that she doubted Pan would tell him; she just wanted to put a little spark in there, since Pan hadn't told her she was pregnant and she hadn't heard it from her daughter either. She was feeling left out.

Well, now that she had her daily dose of tormenting done, it was back to work.

* * *

He would rather face Baby, Freeza, Cell, Majin Buu, and every other mad, evil creature than have to do this. 

Then again, he had chose to come here. He wasn't forced to. And there was no one here to keep him here, either.

How long had he been here? An hour? Three hours? Who knew? The salespeople had come over to him at least four times to see if they could help him with anything. He kept telling them he was just looking. His feet were planted in front of the display case, not moving at all. The only thing that moved on his body was his head, moving side to side to see all the shiny and expensive pieces of jewelry.

Guys shouldn't be allowed in these damn stores because they had no idea what the hell they were looking at unless it was watches, but watches weren't what Goten was looking at.

He was looking at engagement rings.

Oh the horror.

He and Marron had only been dating a few months, but after all the drama they had been through, he knew the re was no one else for him. She had put up with all his drama. She had been with him through thick and thin, flat and fat. If there was one person who was meant for him, it was her. And he was terrified that he loved her. He had been heartbroken, not that he would admit out loud, and he was afraid that he would be again. He had nearly convinced himself that he was not meant to find love and be happiness, but Marron just had to shove her foot in that door to keep it from closing, and she made him fall in love with her.

So it was her fault.

And he knew, could just feel it, that he would never find someone like her. If she left, that was it. But she wanted to stay. Why she wanted him was part of life▓s mysteries, but she did. He couldn't have kids without treatment so he wasn't useful in that department. He wasn't rich like Trunks and couldn't take her away to trips around the world like Trunks could do for Pan, but Marron didn't care. Marron loved him for who he was.

This was the woman he wanted to marry. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. They had known each other all their lives, and it seemed to be destiny at that. To spend eternity together. Not just them, but everyone. It seemed that their fate had been written in the stars and they were all meant to stay together, forever.

So why was it so hard to shop for just one ring?

Goten knew why. He wasn't picky, but he wanted this to be the best ring he could afford. He had been at two other jewelry stores and had looked at those selections before he moved on. He would most likely return to those stores to look again.

"Sir," said a woman who approached him, "Would you like to look at our catalogues for engagement rings?"

Goten's eyebrows perked up. "Catalogues? Yeah, sure, let me see them."

The woman retrieved several catalogues and put them on the counter. Goten flipped through them. He wanted one that would match Marron perfectly. That she would love. One that was simple and clean, and took your attention, without being too flashy. He knew she liked white gold, so that's what he was looking at. And then one caught his attention. He knew it was perfect, and it was right in his price range.

"This one," he said, pointing at it, "I want this one."

So now that he had made his selection, he had to order it. It would take about three days for the ring to get in. Goten paid the down payment for it and left. As soon as he reached his car, his phone jingled.. He opened it when he sat behind the wheel and started his car.

"Hello?"

"Hey Uncle Goten," said Pan.

"Hey Panny, what's up?"

"Nothing much. Hey, are you busy right now?"

"No, not really. Do you need something?"

"Do you think you could stop by Mom and Dad's? I have to tell everybody something."

Now he was concerned. "Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just got some news to tell you and everyone."

"Oh...okay. Well, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay, thanks."

And she hung up. Did people not say goodbye in New York?

And finally it struck him. News? Oh no...

She and Trunks were getting married.

When Goten approached a red light, he banged his head on the steering wheel. If Trunks and Pan were getting married, then that meant Goten couldn't propose yet. You couldn't be engaged when someone else was. He didn't want to take anyone's thunder, especially not his niece's. He was happy for her and his best friend. He would just have to wait.

So would he pick up the ring in three days, or would he get his money back and pay for the ring another time?

The car behind him honked, signaling to him that the light had turned green.

* * *

Trunks and Pan had come up with a plan. He would tell his side of the family and she would tell hers, and they would split up the rest of the Z team between them. He had called Bra and Uub and told them to be at his parent's house. Bra didn't even ask why when she said yes. 

He pulled into the winding driveway of the Briefs' Manor and parked in front of the house. He turned off his car and sat in the driver's seat. It was now or never.

He got out of his car and walked up the steps and pulled the heavy doors open.

Show time.

Pan recognized everyone's cars in her parents' driveways. Her mother and father's, Marron's, and Goten's. She could handle this. She was strong. And they wouldn't hate her. They would be happy for her and support her.

Okay, then. After he mental pep talk, she opened her car door and marched up the porch steps and knocked on the door. Her mother answered and smiled and kissed her daughter.

"Everything okay, Pan?" she asked in a whisper.

Pan smiled at her. "Yeah, everything is fine. Everyone here?"

"Yes, they're all in the living room."

Her mother led her into the living room. When Pan answered, the chit chat they were having died away. Her father and Piccolo were squished together on the love seat. Marron, Goten, and Hercule were on the long couch. So everyone was there.

"Hey, everybody," Pan said as she went over to her father to give him kiss and a hug. They greeted her back. She could tell they were on pins and needles about what the news could be.

_Better get this over with_.

"Well, you all know I have something to tell you," she said, clapping her hands together, "So, um, well..."

* * *

When there was a family meeting at the Briefs', it was in the kitchen where there was food. Trunks was greeted with the smell of meat and broth. When he entered the kitchen, he saw everyone was standing around. His mother was talking with Yamcha and Vegeta had his arm around her waist. Trunks saw she was wearing a toboggan instead of a wig. Bra and Uub were seated at the table engaged in conversation. It immediately stopped when he entered the room. 

"Where's Pan?" his little sister asked.

"She's over at Gohan's," he answered.

Her mother smiled and clapped her hands together. "So? What's the special news?"

Trunks licked his lips. Do it just like a band aid, right off.

"Pan is pregnant with twins."

* * *

"I'm pregnant with twins," Pan said. 

Everyone's jaw dropped. Her mother put her hand over her mouth. Her father blinked a few times.

"You're...pregnant?" he repeated.

She chewed her lip and nodded. Oh no...Oh no oh no oh no oh no...

Gohan looked over to Goten. Then at his wife.

And then he smiled that Son smile and jumped up.

"I'm gonna be a grandfather!"

Her mother squealed. "I'm a grandma!"

"Oh dear Dende," Goten said, "That makes me a Great Uncle. I feel old."

And Pan just stood there. They were taking this much better than she had expected.

"Does Trunks know?" Marron asked.

"Of course he knows," Pan answered, "I was the first to tell him." Kind of.

"I've gotta call Bulma!" Videl said as she ran towards the phone.

"Mama, no!" Pan stopped her. "Trunks is telling them. I told him to call when he told them."

Videl stopped herself, biting her lip. "My baby's having babies."

"And twins?" her father laughed, "That's karma, Panny. Remember?" He put on his little Pan imitation. " 'I'm never having kids'. And now you're having two!"

Her mother pressed a hand to her daughter's belly. "How far along are you?"

"Nine weeks."

"Wow," Marron said, coming over to feel Pan's belly, also, "And Trunks is the father?"

"Of course he is! He's the only one that I..."

"Ah!" Both Goten and Gohan covered their ears, "I don't want to hear it! Don't want to hear it!"

The kitchen phone rang shrilly and Videl snatched it up faster than one could blink. "Hello? Bulma! Yeah, we just heard! I know, right? I know! I know! Aaaaaaiiiiieeeeee!" She jumped up and down like a teenager and Pan knew Bulma was doing the same.

They stayed there and talked, and of course Bulma and Videl were on the phone, making plans of grandmotherhood. Marron called her parents and told them.

"No offense," Videl said when she pulled Pan aside, "But I was kind of hoping that you would be married before you told us you were pregnant."

Pan frowned. "I know, trust me, I do, too."

And then Piccolo spoke for the first time. "Well, like mother like daughter."

Pan looked over to him. "What?"

Behind Pan's back her mother made a motion with her hand across her neck, but Pan saw. Piccolo caught his mistake and didn't say anything. Pan looked at her father, who avoided his gaze and played with his hair. She looked back at her mother.

"What was he talking about?" Pan asked again, sternly.

Videl had a guilty look on her face and she fidgeted her hands like a guilty child being scolded for making a mess in the kitchen. "I was...pregnant with you and your father and I got married."

Now it was time for Pan's jaw to drop. "You were pregnant with me? You told me that you in Dad met in high school, fell instantly in love, got married, and I was the result of that love!"

"And it's true," Gohan said, "Just...not in that order."

"So, you lied to me all my life?"

"Well, we didn't want you to think that premarital sex was okay."

"Too late now, isn't it?" Goten said.

Pan pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. "You learn something new everyday."

* * *

Marron had beat Goten home. He saw her car in their driveway. The news of Pan's pregnancy was still a shock to him. Pan had said she wasn't sure about marriage and wanted to wait. Goten was still contemplating whether or not he should pop the question. Perhaps he should wait. 

And when he opened his door, he saw something that made his stomach drop to his knees and his arm hair stand on end.

There was his current girlfriend, Marron, seated on the couch and across from her was his ex-girlfriend, Paris with her son on her knee, chewing on a toy transformer.

What the hell...?

They both turned to look at him. Marron had a fake smile plastered on her face. She clearly wasn't comfortable; he couldn't blame her.

"Look, honey," she said, emphasis on the 'honey' part, "We have guests."

He turned pale. "I, uh, see that."

And then he noticed that Paris was crying. Her eyes were red and moist. She gave him a distressed look. "Please," she pleaded, "I don't know where else to go."

Goten and Marron looked at each other. Marron stood up, taking control of the situation since Goten didn't seem to have any idea what to do.

"Let's get you into the guest room," she said, leading Paris and her son away to the room that Pan stayed in, "Get some rest."

And Goten stood there. What the hell just happened?

_To be continued... _

* * *

_(A/N): Oh the drama! What's Goten to do. Well, I read a few pregnant Pan fics, and realized that some of them revolve solely around her pregnancy and made it very boring. I don't want this to be one of those fics. The scene where Pan finds out her mother was pregnant before getting married came from an episode of "Grounded for Life". Goten and Marron are my second favorite couple on DBGT. I'm thinking about making a fanfic based around them. I just need to come up with a good plot, any ideas? So Paris shows up out of nowhere and Goten wants to propose. You'll get to see the ring in the next chapter. Please review. I especially love long ones. Ja ne! _


	22. Oh Baby, Baby

**Oh Baby, Baby**

Trunks walked into his bedroom that night to see Pan stuffing two of the couch cushions in her nightgown, making her belly round. She sensed he was there.

"You know, I'm going to be huge, right?" Pan said, still looking at herself in the mirror.

Trunks smiled and shook his head, "You're not going to be huge."

She turned to face him, taking the pillows out. She was started to grow a little out in the tummy already. "I'm having twice as many kids as other pregnant women. I've seen pictures of pregnant women with twins. It's not pretty."

Trunks stepped to her and pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. "You're going to look beautiful, just like you look now."

"You say that now," she muttered.

Trunks rolled his eyes. There was no pleasing this woman.

* * *

"What?!" Pan was in total shock. She and Marron had taken a walk in the park after they had gotten off work. They were in sweats. When Pan saw Marron's flat tummy compared to her developing bulb, she felt jealous.

Marron nodded, her blonde bangs sticking to her face. "She was there when I got there, on the porch, holding her son's hand."

"What's she doing back?"

"She said her boyfriend kicked her and Ethan out. Ethan's her son."

Pan was still surprised. "What did Goten say?" she asked.

"Nothing, what could he say?" Marron took a long drink from her water bottle. "You're ex-girlfriend shows up out of nowhere with a toddler and tells you she has no place to go?" It was no secret that Marron did not like Paris at all. From what she had heard from Bra and Trunks, she and Paris had actually gotten into a cat fight once.

Then Pan gasped. "The kid's not his, is it?"

Marron choked on water for a minute, but swallowed it. "No, of course not! Goten's infertile." She slowly brought down her water bottle, looking at Pan with worried blue eyes. "You don't think it's his, do you?"

Pan shrugged. "Like you said, Goten's infertile. When did she become pregnant, before or after the accident?"

"After," Marron said with a nod, "So there's no way. Goten gets tests down every three months, and he's still infertile."

"What does the kid look like?"

"He's a little cutie," Marron said, "Looks exactly like Paris. Redish brown hair. Brown eyes, and little rosy cheeks. An exact copy of Paris."

They began walking again. "What if she says it's his?"

Marron stomped on. "Then we'll get a paternity test. If it's not his, she can leave us alone. If it is... we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Marron slow down," Pan called out, "I'm pregnant, remember! I'm supposed to gain weight, not lose it!"

* * *

Trunks was in a comfortable sleep, dreaming about different and random things, when he was suddenly shaken awake.

"Wha...?" he sound, sleepily.

"Trunks," Pan said in the darkness next to him, "I felt them! Give me your hand!"

Said father-to-be flipped over and held out his hand. Pan took it and laid it on her bare stomach below her navel. Trunks noticed it felt more rounded now; She was definitely starting to show. He waited a while but didn't feel any sort of movement.

"Pan, I don't feel any..."

"Shh! Shh!" she quieted him.

He sighed. Didn't she know that he had to be up at seven? And it was only her fourth month of pregnancy. Should he be able to feel the...

"Did you feel that?" Pan asked.

Trunks sat up on his elbow with his hand still on his pregnant girlfriend's abdomen. He had indeed felt something. It was like the moving of muscle beneath skin. It was sudden and only lasted a second before it was still. Did it really move or was he just being groggy? To answer him, the baby moved again, and this caused the other one to move more to the left than it's twin.

"Oh wow," Trunks couldn't help but say.

"Isn't that awesome?" Pan said, giddily.

Trunks stared at her belly in the dark, his eyes adjusting. His kids were moving in there. They were showing active signs of life, not the doctors telling them what was going on. Those were his children he had felt. They were real. They were really there and they were showing it.

He was going to become a daddy. He was anxious and joyful and scared to death all at the same time.

* * *

When Pan went to visit her parents after work, she wasn't surprised to see Bulma there. Immediately when she walked through the door, they rushed over to her.

"Oh my god, you're showing!" Videl cheerfully screeched as she patted her daughter's stomach. "And you are glowing so much! Ah!"

"You're gonna have to get maternity clothes soon," Bulma said, also rubbing her hand over Pan's swelling abdomen. Then she and Videl looked at each other. "We can all go shopping! It will be a mommy day!"

The two already mothers danced with glee. Pan had to stop herself from rolling her eyes; who was supposed to be the grandparents here?

"I felt them move last night," Pan said.

"Aww!" they sang together. And then their hands were back on her abdomen.

The next person to touch her stomach, she was going to punch them in the face. She wasn't THAT pregnant, yet, but that didn't stop Marron, Bra, Uub, Goten, and Yamcha when she went to see them. When Paris, whom Pan had forgotten was there, went to feel, Pan had actual told her not to touch her or she would snap her hand off. Luckily though, she was able to blame it on the hormones.

Another stupid thing she did that day was when Paris started giving her pregnancy advice and telling her she shouldn't do this when she did and she shouldn't do that when she did. And she kept comparing Trunks to her ex! What was with that?

"At least she has her babies' daddy!" Marron shouted, seemingly more upset than Pan.

After a few exchanges of heated words, pregnant Pan was pulling Marron away from pulling Paris' hair out.

"You better be glad you're pregnant Pan or I swear I would hurt you if you don't let me go!" Marron shouted while Pan held her back by her arms.

Paris put her hands on her hips. "Is that a death threat?" She snapped her fingers. "Bitch, I will call the police on you!"

"I'm dating a police officer!"

"I dated him first!"

"And you cheated on him!"

Now she was starting to get a headache. Paris' son was lucky not to hear this since he was napping, but she was going to make sure he didn't wake up. Coming between them, she grabbed their ears and pulled. Making painful sounds, the two kitties in the catfight sank down to their knees.

Pan smiled sweetly. "There, now isn't that better? The next one to make another snide remark, I'm going to sit on your heads. Okay?"

Trunks was seated behind his desk at work, his head bobbing up and down with tiredness, trying to keep himself awake. After he had felt the fetuses in Pan move, he could hardly get himself back to sleep.

There was a knock on his door and he sat up straight. "Come in," he said. His door opened and he was surprised to see Vegeta. Trunks furrowed his brow. "Dad. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Vegeta didn't say anything. He only approached Trunks' coach he kept in there and sat down. "I'm here to talk about Pan." There was something in his voice when he said this that put Trunks on edge.

He leaned back and put his hands together on the table. "Yes?"

Vegeta put his hands on his knees. "You know what the twins are going to be, don't you?" Trunks waited for him to tell. "They're going to be Saiyans, more Saiyan than you and her."

Was that it? Trunks had already figured that out. "Is there something I should be worried about?"

There was a flash of annoyance in his father's face before he returned it back to his usual expression. "When you're mother was pregnant with you, I was on edge everyday. She was starting to have complications."

Trunks leaned forward, now much more concern since Pan was pregnant with Saiyans. "What complications?"

Vegeta looked at him, then to the ground, and finally back to his son. "She had fevers more frequently and cramps that were bad enough to make her curl up and cry. She started becoming depressed. When she was in labor, no amount of drugs they gave her made the pain go away. She was screaming like she was being ripped in half, and it probably felt like she was."

"B-But Pan is doing fine now," Trunks said, "She hasn't been feeling depressed or cramps. And Mom is all human, Pan is quarter Saiyan."

"Pan has Saiyan in her, but it's practically nonexistent. She is more human. And Bulma was carrying a half-Saiyan. Pan is carrying two almost full Saiyans. The risks are much greater. Twin Saiyans were very rare on Vegeta-sei." Vegeta again had that worried and concern look, but ten times as much. "Be very careful and watch her very closely. Watch for anything out of the ordinary for pregnancies, anything that doesn't seem healthy or..." He struggled with the last word, "...natural."

Trunks put his hand over his mouth. He could feel his pulse quicken with paranoia. His mind raced with thoughts. In his head he saw Pan, big and pregnant, screaming in agony because of the tiny fetuses inside her. He closed his eyes, biting his lip hard his mouth filled with saliva. His father was telling him Pan could die because of the pregnancy. What was he supposed to do now?

_Pan..._

"Achoo!" Pan sniffed and rubbed her nose.

* * *

_ (A/N): This chapter Sucks. Sucks! SUCKS! stabs it with a spork Hopefully, I will make better chapters. Sorry for this lame excuse. XP. Oh, and Please be aware that I don't really know how Saiyan the twins will be, I just know they will be more than Pan and this jeopardizes her health. Thanks to all my reviewers who have given me their insight and expert skills, fractions make my brain go poo. Ja ne.  
_


	23. Open Mouth, Insert Foot

**Open Mouth, Insert Foot**

There was another thunderstorm. When Trunks got home that night, he noticed that the windows were dark, but he knew Pan was inside since her car was in the garage. He walked inside but couldn't see anything.

"Pan?" Trunks moved with his hands out, "Pan are you..." Crack. "SON OF A..."

"Trunks, is that you?"

Trunks held his toe where he stubbed it on the couch. "Yeah, I'm here. You okay?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm in the living room."

He saw a ray circle of light come from the hall. Pan emerged with a flashlight. "The power is out."

"I noticed."

Pan grabbed his hand and they both sat down on the couch with only the flashlight to give them light. When there was a streak of lightning, Pan squeezed his hand harder, moving herself closer to him. She jumped when the thunder came five seconds later.

"Why are you afraid of storms?" Trunks asked her.

She looked to him, her eyes blinking. "I never told you?"

"No, you never did." Trunks laid down on the giant couch, situating them both so they were laying together in each other's arms. "So what happened?"

Pan closed her eyes and sighed. "It's really dumb."

"I want to hear it."

"All right." Then she began her story, "When I was ten years old, Dad and I got into an argument, and I got so angry I stormed off and flew away as fast as I could. I didn't pay attention to where I was going. Finally, the wind was too strong for me and I stopped in a tree. I was gong to head back, but I didn't know where I was and it was pitch dark, I wouldn't see where I was going."

Trunks' thumb moved over Pan's swollen abdomen where his kids were developing. He listened to her words, not interrupting her.

"I stayed in the tree, but then I heard this loud, roaring sound, like a freight train. The wind was so strong, I had to hold on to the trunk to keep my balance." She coughed in her hand. "Finally, I saw why the wind was so strong and where the roaring was coming from. There was a twister, as black as the sky around it. It was tearing up the land, dirt and grass flying everywhere. The trees were bending towards it. I did all I could to hold on. I screamed and screamed for help, but no one came. Then, it was gone. The twister just disappeared, but I still held onto the tree, afraid that if I let go, it would come back. I thought the wind wanted to suck me and as soon as I let go, it would."

"How did you get away?" Trunks asked.

"Grandpa G finally found me." Pan closed her eyes again. "When I saw him, I just cried and cried into his chest as he flew me home. Ever since then I've been afraid of storms. For a few months, I would actually get sick and vomit every time there was lightning."

Suddenly, the lights turned on. Both Trunks and Pan sat up.

"Is the storm over?" Pan asked. There was a clap of thunder and she jumped.

"No, it's just the backup generator finally kicking in," Trunks smiled as he wrapped his arms around her. "Don't worry, Pan. I'll be your Grandpa G for right now."

Pan laughed. "I'd rather you be Trunks."

"I can do that."

* * *

Goten yawned loudly as he brought the patrol car into the station. His shift was over a half hour ago, but he wanted to make sure that both Marron and Paris were asleep when he got home. The fights between them were getting ridiculous, and having to bring him in the middle, honestly! He couldn't help it if his damn good moral upbringing made him keep Paris there, she had a baby for Dende's sake!

And just yesterday, his engagement ring came in. A simple 18 karat white gold band with a round cut diamond with .70 carat, whatever that was. He had carried the box with him all day in his pocket, but he still had no idea how he was going to go through with it. Maybe bring her to where they had their first kiss? He didn't know. He wanted it to be memorable, that's for sure.

He laid his head on the steering wheel for a minute before checking his watch. It was close to eleven thirty. Marron had been busy with her recent injury cases, which was one reason why she was so stressed, so she should be fast asleep in their bed.

He parked the vehicle in the garage, locked it, and got into his own car. The rain was hitting down hard against his windshield and the windshield wipers squeaked on the glass as they moved. A flash of lightning streaked the sky in blue and the loud bang of thunder followed after.

He finally arrived home and parked his car next to Marron's. He didn't have a garage so he had to hurry inside before be became too wet. It was dark inside, so Marron must have gone to bed. He put his coat on the rack and made his way to the kitchen, where he made himself a large sub. As he was walking by the living room, the lamp turned on. Seated in the recliner, Marron was with her arms crossed.

" 'Ello Mawwon," Goten said with a mouthful.

She looked angry. "You're late getting home."

Goten swallowed. "No I'm not."

"You usually get home around eleven," Marron said, standing up, "Why are you getting home so late?"

Now Goten was getting annoyed. "I'm a little late getting home, okay. What's the problem?"

"Oh, there is no problem," Marron said, "Just that your ex-girlfriend has been staying with us and we hadn't had sex since then and you stay out more than before."

Goten blinked at her. Then he rolled his eyes. "You think I still like Paris?"

Marron pouted. "Well, you let her stay with us."

"She has a kid, Marron. I couldn't turn her away."

"She's just trying to get back to you, and you're letting her!"

"I'm not letting her do anything!" He walked to the bedroom to change into his boxers.

Marron followed after him. "Yes you are. You're letting her be all over you. It's like you want to be with her."

Goten pulled his shirt off angrily over his head. His hair was disarrayed. "I do not want to be with Paris."

Marron leaned against the doorframe as Goten removed his pants. "I won't be upset if you're still attracted to her. I just want to know."

"You're already upset, and I don't want to be with her!"

"Well, how do I know that?" Marron snapped at him.

"Because I don't want to ask her to marry me!" Goten shouted, "I want to ask you to marry me!" Open mouth, insert foot.

There was a pregnant pause. Marron put her hand over her mouth. It then clicked in his head what he had just said.

"Oh dammit, dammit!" He said, slapping his palm against his forehead. "Me and my stupid, big mouth!"

Marron walked closer to him with her mouth still covered with her hand. "Are you saying... what I hope you're saying."

Goten sat on the bed. "Yeah... I was going to ask you to marry me, but it's all gone to hell now. What with Pan getting pregnant, Bulma having cancer, and now Paris showing up, I just didn't feel like now would be a good time. I even got you the ring and everything before I all this happened." He kept shaking his head, looking at the floor.

Marron smiled as her eyes watered. "You got me a ring?"

Goten's fingers trailed through his hair. "Yeah." He snatched his jeans off the floor and fumbled through the pocket for the box. When he found it, he stood up to show it to Marron. It was then he saw the tears in her eyes. He looked down at the box and bit his cheek.

Marron made a squeak as he slowly got down on one knee. He wiped his hand, which was suddenly drenched in sweat, on his boxers. He opened the box to show the ring. Marron was biting her lip so hard he was afraid it would start to bleed.

"Mar..." He cleared his throat, "Marron, I know this isn't what you always wished it could be. I'm sure that you weren't wishing I would propose to you in my dirty bedroom in only my underwear with my ex girlfriend and her kid staying under the same roof, but..." this got a chuckle out of Marron, "after all thats happened so far, I learned that life isn't predictable." He wiped his forehead. His cheeks were noticeably red with embarrassment. "You know I'm not very romantic, but I don't see much of a future if you're not there with me. You know what I'm going to ask you, and if you say no, that's okay with me. Just having you here with me makes..."

"Oh, just get on with it!" Marron said playfully.

Goten smiled widely. His dark eyes were twinkling. He took a deep breath. "Marron, will you marry me and be my wife?"

Marron's tears ran down her cheeks. "Yes! Yes of course, Goten! Yes!" She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders. He picked her up and twirled her around, and they kissed each other deeply. He then took her left hand and slipped the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

Marron admired the ring on her finger. "I love it."

The kissing became heated. Goten gently placed Marron on the bed. With hands and kissing roaming, they both knew where this was headed.

"Let me close the door," Goten said. He moved towards the door, but Marron's hand on his arm stopped him.

She smiled at him. "Why don't we keep the door open? And the lights on?"

He blinked at her, but then got the message. He smiled and went back to bed with her, pinning her against him and the mattress. Her hands roamed over his back and shoulders.

"Oh...Goten...Mmm!"

* * *

_(A/N): I actually had something very sad to go with this, but I think I might save it for a later chapter. Let's let Marron and Goten have their moment. Please review. Also, do you think I should change the rating? Don't think it's going to be this happy later. There's going to be some major tearjerkers up ahead._


	24. Separating

**Separating**

Ever since his father's warning, Trunks had been looking out signs that something was going on with Pan, other than the obvious pregnancy traits. They're usual conversation was "Are you okay?" "I'm fine." "Are you okay?" "I'm fine." "Are you okay?" "Dammit Trunks! If you ask me one last time if I'm okay, you're going to be the one _not_ fine!"

But he still kept an eye on her. Watching her. He would wake up every time she groaned in her sleep or when she got up to use the bathroom.

"Are you ok…"

The feeling of Pan's glare cut through the darkness. "If you even dare finish that, I swear to Dende, the next time I'm going to pee in the bed on your side!"

He shut up.

As the weather cooled, you could see your breath in the morning chill. Long pants and sweaters came back and some days heavy coats were needed. Pan was now twenty-five weeks pregnant and, to put it mildly, she was a little bigger than pregnant women that carried single children. And she wasn't just eating for two, but three, which meant that Pan seemed to be constantly hungry. She and him went grocery shopping, or paid people to go shopping, at least once a week; and they bought a whole lot of food.

But Trunks was glad that she was eating. In the early stages of her pregnancy, she hardly ate. It scared him to death. He would actually force her to eat _something._ Now, she never stopped eating. On her side of the bed, you would find Little Debbies, peanuts, a pickle jar, empty boxes of crackers and pocky, and lots and lots of popcorn bags. He, being the neat person he was, couldn't stand crumbs in the bed, so often he would vacuum the sheets on his lunch breaks.

And Pan, oh Dende, did not obey the doctor's orders at all! The doctor instructed her to keep off her feet as much as she could. Instead, Pan was always on her feet, never standing still for one minute. This was the biggest problem, and after one incident, Trunks had to finally put his foot down.

"Absolutely not," he said, crossing his arms to show he was sticking to his answer.

Of course Pan rose her eyebrows and her facial expression said 'Oh really'. She copied Trunks' stance by crossing her arms over her swollen breasts. "That's funny, Trunks. I don't remember asking for your permission."

He gave her a stern look. "I refuse to let you have a second job. There's no need for it. I'm letting you have the job at the news studio, but there's no way I'm letting you get another job!"

It was a stare/glare down. Trunks' stern and stubborn stare versus Pan's I-could-get-away-with-murder-right-now glare.

When Pan spoke, it was as smooth and chilling like venom. "You're not _letting_ me? So, you're not _letting _me get another job?"

Trunks sucked in a deep breath and kept his scowl, poking his chest out some to show his masculine. "That's right. I'm a multi-billionaire, so there's no need for you to get a job. I'm paying for everything. I'm taking care of you."

Pan was now vividly shaking with anger. Her face was growing red. "Is that so?" She was physically seething, but her voice was still as calm, yet sharp as ever. "So, you're supposed to take care of me, huh? I'm supposed to just sit on my ass and eat Bon-Bons and wait for you to take care of me. I'm supposed to be the little wifey-wife of the house, hm?"

She took a step forward, her belly rubbed against his and she lifted her chin up as high as it could go to look him in the eye. But Trunks was not going to back down. He was not the bad guy in this argument.

She jabbed him in the chest with her finger, but he didn't budge; neither did she. "Let's get one thing straight here, bub."

That's how she started every rant. She was trying to make him feel bad, but he refused. He stared straight into her frustrated chocolate eyes as she ranted and yelled, but he had been down this road before. Not just when she was pregnant, but far before that when they were kids. He knew how to block her out. He knew he was right. She knew he was right. They were both just too stubborn. He knew to zone her out when she thought he was listening…

Her mouth moved very fast, but all he heard was, "_Whomp whomp whomp whomp _If you think that I'm _whomp whomp whomp whomp! Whomp whomp whomp whomp _you're sadly _whomp whomp whomp! _I can do _whomp whomp! Whomp whomp whomp whomp _doctor _whomp whomp whomp _idiot! And furthermore, _whomp whomp whomp whomp whomp!"_

And she was still going. She was like the energizer battery. Yes, he knew he was being mean by only half listening, but this wasn't a matter he was going to move aside in. This was her health at stake. He already hated that she was working at the news studio. She kept complaining that she never had anything to do, but there were other things than work to keep her busy, without it subjecting to her health and the health of their unborn kids.

"Are you listening?" she screamed at him, pulling him out of his daydream.

"Yes."

"Then what did I just say?"

It was the same rant every time. "That you are not my property and I have no right to tell you what to do, just because you're pregnant with my children," he said from memorization.

"That's right!" she cried out, "I am not your property! I can do whatever I damn well please, so _whomp whomp! Whomp whomp whomp whomp!_ I am Pan Son, not Briefs, and even _if _there is a ring on this finger in the future…"

This is where he interrupted her. "Whoa! What do you mean 'if'? What are you saying?"

She pulled back, just a tiny bit. "I'm saying that even if there is a ring on this finger, I will not belong to you."

"I know that!" he shouted, frustrated, "I'm asking what you mean by 'if'? Do you not want to get married or something?"

"We've never talked about it!"

"That's because I thought we agreed on it! Getting married would be the best thing!"

"No Trunks, _you _agreed that getting married would be the best thing! You never asked me what I wanted!"

"So do you not want to marry me?"

"That's not what I said!" Pan's eyes started to moisture.

But Trunks was upset now, too. "That is what you're saying! Don't you think about our kids? They need both of us, Pan! They are human beings, and they need both of their parents!"

"Don't you think I know that!" Pan screamed at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her voice croaked with hoarseness. "Don't you think I know what's going on! I'm the one that's pregnant here! You don't know what's going on inside my body! I have the babies concerns in my mind all the time!"

"Then why aren't you doing what the doctors told you?" Trunks yelled back at her. "Why aren't you doing what you've been told to do? You might be older and pregnant, but you're still an immature brat!"

Pan took a step back, her eyes were much wider now. But Trunks couldn't stop.

"You think this is all some kind of fairytale! You can't stand being wrong, and when there's no way you can win, you runaway! When you're afraid to handle things, you runaway! That's all you're good for Pan, is running! Stand up and act like an adult, instead of a child! You use your pregnancy as a shield to hide behind, but you never step up to the plate! You want people to feel sorry for you, but when they want to do something for you, you blow up in their face! Do you want help Pan, or do you want pity? Because I'm not going to pity the mother of my children! And I am not going to feel bad for you, Pan! I am no longer going to be the rug you walk all over!"

She was physically shaking, but not because she was frightened. She was upset. He was coming through to her, finally. He was finally coming through to her in this harsh manner. He should stop right there, but he couldn't. He was upset. Four frustrating years pent up were coming out. He couldn't stop himself.

"But if you can't accept that," he yelled, his face red with anger, "Then perhaps the best thing for us is not to get married! Maybe you're right, because look at us now!"

As he stood there, catching his breath, it dawned on him what he said. The mother of his unborn children, the woman he loved, had her head down and tears were dripping down to the carpet. Her face was hidden by her hair like a veil. She was shaking.

What had he done? He stepped towards her, gently. "Pan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

She covered her mouth with one hand and held up the other. "No," she mumbled into her hand, "You're right. We fight too much. We're not happy. Maybe the best thing for us is not to get married. We made a stupid mistake by doing this. Let's not make it worse."

"Pan please," Trunks said, "I was wrong. I was just angry."

But Pan shook her head. "Maybe, we shouldn't be together."

Trunks' heart twisted painfully. His sinuses were pushing painfully and his eyes were beginning to water. "Pan, don't say that."

"But it's true," she said, "You know it is. What's best for our kids? Having both parents who aren't together? Or having both parents together who constantly fight?" Pan looked up. Her face was wet with tears. She looked so small and fragile than she usually seemed. "I'm not ready to be a parent. It's just like you said."

"I never said that," Trunks said, grabbing her arms firmly but gently, "I never said you would be a bad parent. Please Pan, don't go."

She rose on the tip of her toes and pressed her lips against his forehead, then on his lips. Slowly she pulled back. Trunks had tears slowly going down his own cheeks.

He pulled her to his chest. "I don't want to lose you again, Pan," he said, pressing his nose into her hair, "I love you, so much. Please don't leave."

"I love you, too, Trunks." But she pulled away from him, "But I don't want either of us to be unhappy. Maybe this is the best thing for all of us."

And she left. The door closed behind her softly, but the click of the locks symbolized what he dreaded. They were separating before even really being together. Trunks slid down the wall and landed on the floor.

Pan drove in her car across town. The sun was blocked by the winter clouds, and the world around her was blurry and gray. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She was not running away. She would tell Trunks where she was as soon as she found a place to stay. They had been fighting too much. This had to be the best thing for them, even if it was also the worst decision they could make.

He was right. This was not a fairytale. She was not Cinderella. Her fairy godmother would not come down and make all her dreams come true. She had tormented her prince charming. No _bibbity-bobbity-boo_ could fix this.

But what if this was a mistake? What if she was making the worst decision of her life at this moment? What if she was leaving her one last chance at happiness?

What if she was afraid of being happy?

Afraid of being scared?

Just being afraid?

* * *

(A/N): Yes, this chapter sucks. I had something else in mind, but maybe I'll save it for later. The main thing for me is that I don't want those usual, "She winds up pregnant and they live happily ever after" fics. I honestly don't know where I'm going to go with this. I'm open to suggestions. So tell me how bad this sucks. You won't hurt my feelings...much.

* * *


	25. The Eight Ball has the Answers

**An Eight Ball of Answers**

Trunks slept on the couch. He didn't really sleep, but stared at the ceiling. His bed was too big without Pan. And if she came back, he wanted to be there when she walked through that door. He wanted to hold her in his arms, smell the scent of her hair, and kiss her all over.

He missed her. She sent him a text message and told him that she was staying at a hotel. He could find that hotel and apologize. But did she want him to? What was he supposed to do? Would someone please just tell him what he was supposed to do? Why was being in love so hard? There was no doubt, he loved Pan; he loved her so much it sometime felt like it hurt more than helped. Why didn't his parents tell him being in love was so painful? If he had known this is what it would feel like, maybe he would've never made the decision to fall in love.

But then again, he never really decided to fall in love. He never decided to fall in love with Pan. It just…happened.

* * *

Pan had rented a hotel room. She didn't want to go to Goten's and Marron's and be a bother, and it was a little late to go by Bra's. And her parents were out of the question. Showing up on their doorstep in the middle of the night and trying to explain the situation. Yeah, that would go over quite well…

_Hey Mom, Dad, I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here. Well, I was thinking that maybe being with Trunks wasn't a good idea. I mean, yeah, I'm carrying his children, but is that really what's best? So, I decided to see if being away from him would be better. Got anything salty to eat?_

Pan didn't like the way her brain summarized what would happen. Most scenarios included her father going berserk and looking for Trunks on a murderous rampage. _Gohan angry! Gohan smash!_

She missed him so much. Should she go back? She still had time. She could still get in her car and drive back. She had the key. And he would want her back, right? Right, of course he would. He loved her. She loved him…right? Right, of course.

Then why did she feel that leaving was best? Why did she decide to go if she loved him?

Was it _because_ she loved him? She didn't want to hurt him. But was she hurting him by leaving? Was she doing the wrong thing right now? Women would kill to have a man like Trunks love them. They would give up anything to be as happy as he could make them. Then why? Why wasn't Pan satisfied? Was she that selfish that she would never be happy with her own life?

Her mind kept going in circles. She laid in the hotel bed with stiff sheets and comforters, on top of a mattress that was lumpy. It had an odd smell of cheap detergent.

Inside her belly, the babies kicked and squirmed. She put her hand over them, trying to soothe them to sleep. They knew something was wrong. They couldn't feel their daddy. 'Where was Daddy?' they wanted to know.

Would someone please tell her what she was supposed to do? Would someone please hand her a list of rules and steps she was supposed to follow? It seemed that she had been going the wrong way, but she didn't know how to get back on the right road. Would someone please explain to her what she needed to do?

However, there was no all-knowing voice that came. There was no angel that swooped down to show her what would have happened if she didn't do this or that. Nothing she had seen in the movies. There wasn't even a sign.

Then she remembered something that would at least give an answer to her. It was cheap and childish, but it was better than nothing. She put on her sweater and opened the door. The hotel was far from fancy. You open the front door and you were in the parking lot. She crossed over to her car, the icy winds of winter bit at her face. She climbed inside and got behind the wheel. She searched around the passenger seat the reason she came out in the cold.

A Magic Eight-Ball.

She took a deep breath. "Should Trunks and I be together?" She shook it.

_No way!_ It read. Pan stared at it. How blunt and negative. Well, one more question wouldn't hurt. It was just a toy.

"Should I go back to New York?" she asked again while shaking it.

_Ask again later._

"Son of a bitch," Pan hissed at it, "Will Trunks and I be happy together?"

_No way!_

Pan pursed her lips together and wrinkled her brow. "Do you have any testicles?"

_My sources say no._ Crap, it tells the truth.

Pan glared at it. "What do you know? You're just a ball with a floating dice with answers on it in a dyed liquid. Are you really supposed to show me my destiny?"

_Definitely._

Now it was getting scary.

"Should…" Pan thought about something random, pulling something out of the top of her head. She was hungry. "…I go out for pizza?"

_Yes._

"You're scary, and I'm crazy for talking to myself." Yet, she started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot. A light drizzle began to fall, rain mixed with slush. Winter was definitely coming and snow would be here soon.

On the way, she called the pizza place for a carry-out order. She put gas in her car and drove to the pizza place where she ordered a large hand-tossed with everything on it. She ate it in the car, still seeking answers from the Magic Eight-Ball.

"Will I be pregnant forever?"

_Outlook not so good._

"I hate you." She shook it angrily. "Should Trunks and I be together! Tell the truth, dammit!"

_Ask again later._

There was a tapping on her window, which caused Pan to jump. Her first thought was the owner of the pizza place was going to ask her to leave because there was no loitering allowed, but it wasn't. It was Uub, wearing earmuffs and a thick green scarf that matched his turtleneck.

Pan rolled down the window. Uub's breath was visible in the cold. "What are you doing here by yourself?" he asked.

"Eating pizza and getting my fortune told," Pan held up the Eight-Ball, "Care to join me?"

Uub walked around and opened the passenger door and sat in the seat. He took off his gloves and breathed into his hands to warm them. "So why are you asking questions to the almighty Eight-Ball?"

Pan shook it. "Trunks and I had a fight. I'm trying to figure out if we should be together." Outlook not so good. "It keeps giving me the wrong answer."

Uub picked up a slice and took a big bite out of it. "What does it keep telling you?"

Pan said and leaned her head against the window. "That I shouldn't be with him."

"Did you ask the testicle question?"

"Yes, and it said no."

Pan and the Eight-Ball stared at each other. The sideways eight was another pair of eyes.

Uub took it from her. "If you said it told you the wrong answer, wouldn't that mean that you know the right answer?" Pan looked up to him. "I'm guessing you ask it the same question over and over, don't you? You're hoping to get the answer you want to satisfy yourself."

Pan looked out the window. The rain had turned to snow. It was lightly falling, turning everything gray. "Maybe I am. Who knows?"

Uub gave her a smile. "Pan, couples fight. It's what they do."

"But what if we're not meant to be together, Uub?" Pan looked at him, her chocolate eyes gloomy, "What if it's just not meant to be? What if it's not love?"

"Pan," Uub reached across and patted her hand, "What is love to you?"

Pan licked her lips. "I…I don't really know."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps, love is sitting in the parking lot in the snow with an Eight-Ball, asking the same question over and over about someone hoping to get a yes answer."

Pan smiled. "I guess you're right."

"I'm always right," he said. He opened the door and setting his foot out but not quite leaving, "You're wanting to see fireworks, but your not facing the party. They're going off all around you, but your only hearing the bang." Pan blinked at him, not quite understanding the metaphor. Uub stepped out and shut the door, but he leaned into the window. Pan pushed the button to roll it down. "By the way, that thing is a lie. Ricky Martin has nothing on the sexiness of Enrique Iglesias." He snapped his fingers and walked off to his car, shaking his hips.

Pan laughed and drove off. Uub's metaphor still replayed in her mind. Was she really avoiding the fireworks?

She came to a red light. The Eight-Ball was staring at her. She reached over and picked it up. One last question. Just one last. Whatever it said, she would do.

"Should I go back to Trunks?" She shook it hard.

She bit her lip. She looked down at her swollen abdomen. The Eight-Ball was staring at her, tempting her to see the answer.

She rolled down the window and dropped the toy outside in the snow.

* * *

Trunks had been pacing back and forth to and from different rooms, checking the different phones to see if perhaps Pan had called. He tried calling her earlier, but she didn't answer. Perhaps she didn't want to talk to him.

Before he wore out the carpet, he decided to sit down on the couch. He was worried so much about Pan. Was she okay?

_This is Pan. She's not afraid of anything_.

He propped his feet on the table and turned on the television. Flashing across the screen were the bold words of "Thunder Storm Warning".

_Except that._

Trunks jumped out the door and flew out the door.

* * *

Pan drove her car further down the road. Rain tapped hard against her hood, but her mind was too spun around Trunks to take notice of it. Perhaps Uub was right; however, what if the Eight Ball had actually been a significant sign? What if she had gotten the right answer but didn't want it to be so? Which then brought her back to what Uub had said; did she want only the answer she wanted, and if so, then didn't she already know the answer.

Urgh, she felt like she was back in philosophy class. Question: why? Answer: why not? It just ended in a question. Pan liked hard, stone facts. Facts were things that no matter how much you said otherwise, it was still true and factual. Oh, how she wished love was a mathematical process with a simple solution.

Pan sighed. Why couldn't life have a manual or a to-do list?

She traveled down the familiar road and stopped at the gate to Trunks' estate. What was the code again? Oh-three-two-eight? Or eight-two-three-oh? She leaned out the window to see the keypad. She reached out to it, but suspended her hand in thought.

In her peripheral vision, she saw a figure drop down from the sky behind her vehicle. She turned her head to see whom it was. A flash of lightning lit up the sky and illuminated the person's silhouette. Pan let out a high pitch screech, very unlike herself.

"Pan?" the figure called out, then stepped up to her car.

Pan narrowed her eyes to get a good look at the person. "Trunks? What are you doing out here in the rain?"

Trunks came up to the car. His lilac hair stuck to his face and he was completely soaked. "I came out looking for you! It's a thunder storm, didn't you notice?"

Pan blinked slowly. "A thunderstorm?" To answer her, there was another clap of thunder, followed by a flash of lightning. Her eyes widened. How could she have missed that?

"Let's go inside," Trunks said, as he punched in the code; which turned out to actually be three-seven-four-one.

"So an Eight Ball said you shouldn't be with me?" Trunks asked, towel drying his hair. He had changed his clothes and was wearing a long dark robe.

Pan had also changed into her pajamas and was sitting on the edge of their bed. "Yeah, but I don't think it was telling the truth."

"Did you ask the testicle question?"

Pan pulled at a loose thread. "Yeah, and it said it didn't."

Trunks put the towel over his shoulder. "And what are you going to do?"

She didn't look at him, but continued to pull at the thread. "I want…to be with you."

He sat down on the bed next to her. "Then stay with me. In case you forgot, we are going to have a family. I think we should have that family together."

She looked at him. "Have you ever asked yourself if you were doing the right thing?"

"All the time," he answered. Then his sapphire eyes softened, "Do you feel like you're making a mistake?"

It was something about his eyes that kept her looking into them. "Are we only together because I'm pregnant, or are we really in love?"

Trunks' eyes followed Pan's hand to the loose thread, and he yanked it off. "I'd like to think so."

"But how are you really sure? I mean…"

He cut her off by taking her chin in his thumb and index and then pressed their lips together. Another thing about him, his kisses made her spine tingle.

He pulled back and looked at her through those magnificent blue eyes. "I just do."

Pan kept staring at him. Was this what love was? Just knowing? It didn't sound so bad.

She grabbed his shoulders, looking him straight in the eye. "Let's get married."

Trunks' eyes became round. "M-Married? So soon?"

Pan narrowed her eyes. "If we're so in love with each other, then marriage should be perfect for us, right? And if I'm going to have your children, I think it would be best to get married."

Color drained from Trunks' face. "Y-You want to get married? Now?"

Pan gave him a cold glare. "What, do you not want to?"

"It-It's not that I don't want to…" Trunks rubbed the back of his head.

Pan narrowed her eyes. "But…?"

"Well, since Goten already popped the question to Marron," he said, "it would be like stealing their thunder if we get married now."

Pan stared at him. Her face stoic. "They're engaged?"

He gave her a puzzled look. "Yeah, didn't she tell you?"

She grabbed him by the front of his robes. Her hormones raged inside her at the news. "NO! That bitch never told me!"

"Uh…"

Pan pushed him away and stomped to the bathroom, then slammed the door shut behind her. Trunks' shoulders sagged as he let out a long sigh.

"Just when things were finally getting better…"

* * *

_(A/N): I honestly, truly hate this chapter. My first time with this messed it up. Hopefully this will be better now. stabs chapter with a spork_

* * *


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